APPETITE FOR DISCUSSION
Welcome to Appetite for Discussion -- a Guns N' Roses fan forum!

Please feel free to look around the forum as a guest, I hope you will find something of interest. If you want to join the discussions or contribute in other ways then you need to become a member. We especially welcome anyone who wants to share documents for our archive or would be interested in translating or transcribing articles and interviews.

Registering is free and easy.

Cheers!
SoulMonster
APPETITE FOR DISCUSSION
Welcome to Appetite for Discussion -- a Guns N' Roses fan forum!

Please feel free to look around the forum as a guest, I hope you will find something of interest. If you want to join the discussions or contribute in other ways then you need to become a member. We especially welcome anyone who wants to share documents for our archive or would be interested in translating or transcribing articles and interviews.

Registering is free and easy.

Cheers!
SoulMonster

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Page 1 of 2 1, 2  Next

Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:36 pm

CHAPTER INDEX

- 1997-2001: AXL'S STALKER
- 1997: SLASH WANTS TO PUT TOGETHER A BAND OF FORMER GN'R MEMBERS
- JANUARY 1998: CHRIS WEBER SUES GUNS N' ROSES
- JANUARY 3-APRIL, 1998: THE BAND MOVES INTO RUMBO RECORDERS TO REHEARSE AND RECORD
- JANUARY 1998: THE BAND STARTS REHEARSING AND EVENTUALLY RE-RECORDING APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
- FEBRUARY-AUGUST 1998: YOUTH IS FIRED AS THE PRODUCER WHEN AXL DISCOVERS HE HAS A BONUS FOR RUSHING THE ALBUM
- FEBRUARY 11, 1998: AXL IS ARRESTED IN PHOENIX
- JANUARY-MARCH 1998: MICHAEL BLAND AUDITIONS; JOSH FREESE JOINS THE BAND
- JOSH BEFORE GUNS N' ROSES
- APRIL 1998: TOMMY STINSON JOINS THE BAND
- TOMMY BEFORE GUNS N' ROSES
- APRIL-DECEMBER 1998: WITH A FULL LINEUP AND PRODUCER STABILITY, THE BAND STARTS RECORDING
- MAY 1, 1998: THE RECORDING AGREEMENT IS AMENDED AND AXL RECEIVES AN ADVANCE TO FINISH CHINESE DEMOCRACY
- EARLY 1998: CHRIS PITMAN JOINS THE BAND
- CHRIS BEFORE GUNS N' ROSES
- SOMETIME JANUARY-JULY 1998: THIS I LOVE IS CONSIDERED FOR THE SOUNDTRACK TO WHAT DREAMS MAY COME
- AUGUST 1998-1999: SEAN BEAVAN BECOMES THE NEW PRODUCER
- OCTOBER 27, 1998: 'WELCOME TO THE VIDOES' IS RELEASED
- DECEMBER 10, 1998: GEFFEN RECORDS IS MERGED WITH INTERCSOPE
- JANUARY 1999: SLASH, DUFF AND MATT PLAY TOGETHER AT THE SLAMDANCE FESTIVAL
- 1998-1999: PLANNING A LIVE ALBUM
- JANUARY 1999: RUMOURS ABOUT GUNS HEADLINING SUMMER FESTIVALS OF 1999
- JANUARY-AUGUST 1999: WORKING ON NEW MUSIC
- MAY 1999: GUNS N' ROSES ON THE 'HEAVY METAL F.A.K.K. 2' SOUNDTRACK?
- JUNE 25, 1999: A NEW VERSION OF 'SWEET CHILD' IS FEATURED IN THE 'BIG DADDY' MOVIE
- AUGUST 1999: ROBIN LEAVES THE BAND
- REPLACING ROBIN
- AUGUST-OCTOBER 1999: WORKING ON NEW MUSIC
- NOVEMBER 2, 1999: 'END OF DAYS' SOUNDTRACK WITH 'OH MY GOD'
- SONG: OH MY GOD
- DADDY, CAN THE DEVIL DO MOMMY AND ME?
- NOVEMBER 1999: AXL REEMERGES
- 1999-2000: GARY SUNSHINE AND ROB HOLLIDAY
- NOVEMBER 23, 1999: 'LIVE ERA '87-'93' IS RELEASED
- 1996-2016: SLASH AFTER GUNS N' ROSES: VARIOUS PROJECTS; GUITAR HERO; SELLING OUT?
- 1996-2016: DUFF AFTER GUNS N' ROSES: BUSINESS SCHOOL, STAYING SOBER, AND INVESTMENTS
- FORMER BAND MEMBERS' VIEW ON AXL CONTINUING WITH GUNS N' ROSES
- 1998-2009 : IZZY'S SOLO MUSIC
- 1998-2010: DUFF'S LOADED PART 1
- 1996-2016: DUFF AFTER GUNS N' ROSES - OTHER MUSICAL PROJECTS
- 1996-2001: SLASH AFTER GUNS N' ROSES: BLUES BALL AND SNAKEPIT
- 1999-2010: SLASH'S THOUGHTS ON REUNITING WITH AXL IN GUNS N' ROSES
- 1996-2001: AXL AND SLASH


Last edited by Soulmonster on Thu May 16, 2024 9:07 pm; edited 33 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:36 pm

1997-2001
AXL'S STALKER

In November 1997, 39-year Karen Jane McNeil who had been stalking Axl, was sentenced to jail for one year for violating a 1997 court order to stay 300 yards away from Axl's Malibu home [People Magazine, November 29, 1997; MTV News, May 31, 2000]. She had attempted to enter Axl's house on May 16, 1997 [People Magazine, November 29, 1997].

Then, three years later, on May 16, 2000, McNeil visited Axl's home again and was arrested [NME, May 18, 2000]. After discovering that McNeil was trying to enter his property, at around 8 pm, Axl called for the police who came and arrested her outside of his property [NME, May 18, 2000; The Californian, May 18, 2000]. Deputy Boris Nikolof, of LA Country Sheriff Department, confirmed that McNeil was a suspect in several prior stalking cases involving Axl [NME, May 18, 2000].

McNeil's trial was set for June 19, 2000 [MTV News, May 31, 2000]. At the trial, Beta Lebeis would testify that McNeil had visited Axl's property at least six times in the past four years [AP/Santa Cruz Sentinel, June 20, 2000]. It would also be revealed that once she had followed a gardener through the gate and found Axl playing guitar in the kitchen [The Californian, June 21, 2000]. McNeil had told authorities that she believed she was Axl's wife and that they could communicate telepathically [The Californian, June 21, 2000].

In December 2000, it would be reported that McNeil would be facing two misdemeanor charges, for violating a court order and contempt of court, after having sent mail to Axl from prison [Launch, December 11, 2000].

Then on January 8, 2001, McNeil was again arrested for being outside Axl's house [Launch, January 10, 2001].

In mid-July Fernando Lebeis would discuss McNeil:

She's a person who needs help. Once she followed the maid and got into the house. She's scary, she thinks Axl communicates with her through letters and, go figure, she thinks he has some love relationship with my mom, which is not ture. But she thinks that if it weren't for my mom, Axl would marry her.



EPILOGUE

McNeil's days of stalking celebrities were not over. In March 2009, McNeil was ordered to stay at east 150 yards away from the members in Metallica, their families and the people who run the Metallica fan club [TMZ, October 27, 2009], and in October 2009, Justin Timberlake obtained a restraining order against her [E! Online, October 24, 2009].


Last edited by Soulmonster on Sun May 05, 2024 8:10 am; edited 5 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:36 pm

1997
SLASH WANTS TO PUT TOGETHER A BAND OF FORMER GN'R MEMBERS

As described in a previous chapter, various band members had played and/or written music with Izzy in 1995-1996, this continued in 1997.

In April it would be rumoured that Izzy had written music with Axl [MTV, April 18, 1997]. The same month Slash would talk about working with Izzy while in Spain (where Slash went to partake in a music video for "Obsession" [The Index Journal, March 26, 1997]), and that he had then involved Duff and Matt. Duff was still in Guns N' Roses at the time, but it would be around the time Matt was leaving the band.

The day before last, me and Izzy worked on two new songs in Spain. We came back with Duff and then got Matt to come in.


In late 1997 it was rumoured that Slash wanted to put together a band of former GN'R members [MTV News, September 29, 1997]. The rumour got wings earlier in September when Slash and Steven joined Gilby's band on stage at Billboard Live in Hollywood for one song [MTV News, September 29, 1997].

In an interview published in December 1997, Slash would say he had been working with both Izzy and Duff recently [Fuzz Magazine, December 1997].


Last edited by Soulmonster on Wed Apr 10, 2024 8:51 am; edited 1 time in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:37 pm

JANUARY 1998
CHRIS WEBER SUES GUNS N' ROSES

In February 1998 it would be reported that Chris Weber, from Hollywood Rose, was suing Guns N' Roses over royalty disputes for the songs 'Shadow of Your Love' and 'Back Off Bitch.' [Los Angeles Daily News]. According to the suit, Weber had been part of writing these songs and were owed royalties [Los Angeles Daily News]. It would also be reported that Weber had launched court action in 1991 involving three songs that he was credited on, but that these records were sealed [MTV News February 6, 1998].

Weber would refer to the suits briefly in 2004:

I had some things that I had to sort out with royalties and records that… brings me in connection with [my old friends].


In 1998, Weber was allegedly thinking about starting Hollywood Rose again [MTV News February 6, 1998]. It would also be said that he had considered releasing Hollywood Rose songs, but that Axl had blocked this [MTV News February 6, 1998].

Doug Goldstein would comment on the suit:

I'm not overly concerned about it. Basically, it's a nuisance lawsuit. I checked with all the clients I represent, and they vehemently deny his (Weber's) writing those two songs. In fact, one of the songs was written before he was even in the band, according to Axl.


Gregory Ehrlich, Weber's publisher, would claim there was video evidence from 1983 of Weber and Axl performing one of the songs together, to which Goldstein would remark:

I've been hearing about that video for four years and have yet to see it.



SEPTEMBER 1999: THE CASE IS DISMISSED

From the court papers as summarized by @Blackstar:

The lawsuit was dismissed on the grounds (among other things) that Chris Weber was late to file it. The claim on Chris Weber’s part regarding Shadow Of Your Love was that he didn’t find out about its release until 1997 (because it had been released only outside the U.S.); and regarding Back Of Bitch that, although he had known that it was included on the Use Your Illusion albums, he didn’t immediately sue because his agent had been receiving promises from GN’R that the issue with his writing credits would be settled.

The judge, however, rejected those claims based on the fact that Shadow Of Your Love had been registered for copyright along with Reckless Life and Move To The City (and that document was used in Chris Weber’s 1989 lawsuit regarding his writing credits for those two songs), so Chris Weber should have known about it then; moreover, the precedent of his 1989 lawsuit didn’t justify his alleged relying on mere promises by GN’R that the issue with Back Off Bitch would be resolved.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:28 am; edited 49 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:37 pm

JANUARY 3-APRIL, 1998
THE BAND MOVES INTO RUMBO RECORDERS TO REHEARSE AND RECORD

In early 1998, the band moved to Rumbo Recorders in San Fernando Valley [The New York Times, March 6, 2005]. According to sound engineer Dave Dominguez, this happened on January 3, 1998 [GN'R Central, January 16, 2019].

Dominguez, who was about to quit and get another job, would explain how he changed his mind when Clink insinuated Guns N' Roses would be coming in to Rumbo to work on their new record:

I had been working with Mike Clink quite a bit. I got the job at Rumbo because of Mike Clink. I guess they had an assistant engineer who kind of froze like a deer in the headlights with working with Clink. So I got a call to come in and interview. And they just threw me in right away with Mike Clink and I got his dry sense of humor. So I've worked, I already worked with him for like two years on a bunch of different things. Like I was, when he came to the studio, I was his guy. I was his main guy. If I wasn't working on something else. And so at that, I had already been assisting for a while and I just, I was over it and I was like, "I don't want to do this anymore. I want to go independent or just get out." I hated being in the studio, which is weird for me. So I knew I was done. The manager kind of called me in and I kind of was like, "Hey, you know, I think I'm gonna give like a month notice." And she's like, "Okay." And maybe three or four days later, I got a call back in the office and she like, "Someone would like to talk to you real quick." And then Mike called me like that day and said, "Hey, you know, can you hang out? I got this band coming in." I had the most experience of all the assistants there, other than the chief engineer who didn't want to do anything to do with like unless it was his project, didn't really want anything to do with working in the studio with other bands. So Mike said, "Hey, would you mind just hanging out? I got bands coming in. I really, it has to be you. I don't trust anybody else." And I was appreciative and like honored and like, "Yeah, who is it?" But I had already heard there was rumors that Guns were ready to record. And I'm like, "Is it who I think it is?" Like, "I can't tell you anything, but you'd want to stick around." And I'm like, "Okay." So I stuck around and finally he gave me the all. He called me at home and said, "Yeah, they're coming in. They're going to be setting up for a couple of weeks." And then, yeah, so that was the call.

I was a staff engineer at Rumbo Recorders and was about to quit or lose me mind I thought it was time to get what clients I had (practically none) and get out. The manager came to me and said Guns was coming in to do their next record and they had no producer or engineer and that needed someone with experience so I said "yes" and she also said they would be writing for two months and then recording for two months and they would be it (haha) seven months later. I bailed on good terms with Axl and the band but not with the studio. During that time they interviewed quite a few producers and I had to give them a technical rundown of what was going on which was pretty elaborate and insane.


So Dominguez was with the band from the first day they started rehearsing and recording at Rumbo [warmaudio.com, January 25, 2021]. Dominguez would explain that the idea was to spend three months rehearsing at Rumbo and then start recording and ber finished by June 1998, but that the band was still in a phase were they were doing early work on song writing:

The idea was they were going to come in for four months and rehearse or, no, three months and rehearse and then, write and then in three months, they're going to start recording the record. But they didn't have a producer at the time and Mike [Clink] didn't know if he was going to do it or not. But yeah, it was supposed to be just six months long. And I left after eight months and nothing had been written. It was all just ideas, still.

When I was involved, it was more like there was really nothing set. I remember [Axl] was listening to a lot of Nine Inch Nails and a ton of industrial stuff, a lot of industrial stuff. So I remember that vibe. That's what he was kind of like going for. There was a lot of loops.


Dominguez would also explain that although Clink was the potential producer at the time, he would not spend much time at Rumbo when the band recorded ideas but would later work on the ideas together with the band:

Clink wasn't going to be around, but he would be checking in and he wasn't going to be working with them directly at that point, but may later on. [...] Yeah, he got things set up and then he at some point, maybe three or four months in... Because what they did, they just come in and jam and record everything to ADAT and tape. And then Mike would take those ADATs to Studio C and then sit and listen and make notes like this and then transfer all the little notes that he had to DAT. And then give everybody, and then from DAT, it's just a complex thing, but then from DAT, [?] to CD and then get everybody CD with like a hundred IDs on each and go, "That's an idea." Everybody would get together and go, "On CD5, ID10, let's work on that." So he was involved later on.

Some were three seconds long, some were three minutes long. Sometimes it was just a guitar lick. ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ They were transferred to CD. Everything had an ID and a number, then the CDs were made for each member of the band. They could go, OK, on set four, CD three, idea 15, let’s do something with that.’ Then everybody would take their CD home, get the part and write something to that. It was intense.


In February 1998, when asked about what the current lineup was, Bryn Bridenthal would only mention Axl and Dizzy, and not confirm that either Matt or Duff was out [MTV News, February 11, 1998]. But then, just some days later, Doug Goldstein would confirm that the lineup was comprised of Axl, Dizzy, Paul and Robin [Rolling Stone, February 20, 1998]. Goldstein would also shed some light on their work process, echoing the process described by Dominguez above:

They each take a CD home, listen for cool parts, pick them out, and that's how they build songs.


Goldstein would also confirm they had recorded more than 300 hours of material [Rolling Stone, February 20, 1998], like material recorded before moving into Rumbo.

In April though, it would be claimed by MTV that they hadn't finished any songs, and that they didn't intend to start recording until the summer [MTV News, April 21, 1998]. That no songs were recorded seems to be contradicted by Moby who knew the project well from having worked with Axl and the band in the preceding year:

Axl had finished several songs that sounded like rock music with sampling technology and were really good.

They wanted to make a record that involved more contemporary production techniques. At one point Rose told me how much he liked the DJ Shadow record.


The explanation is likely that the band hadn't finished any new songs at Rumbo by April, but were still working on song ideas for new songs, while they had recorded more complete songs earlier at the Complex or at Axl's home studio.

Dominguez would also talk about Axl being heavily involved:

[Axl] was there all the time. Like, I was about two weeks in. I think after about two weeks, he came down for the first time after we had set up and the band had, you know, check stuff out. Cause they didn't have a drummer at the time. Josh Freese wasn't the official drummer at the time. So it was between him and Michael Bland, who was a drummer for Prince at one point. [...] So Michael, they had like a little drum off, one night was one guy, the next night was the other guy, and Axl came in. And so he came in like the day before that and kind of just kind of check things out. And yeah, so he was there quite a bit. So yeah, I hung out with him quite often.


But also that he had an Axl's erratic work schedule:

He’d be ‘on’ for a couple of weeks and then ‘off’ for a couple weeks. He called in pretty much every day, though. He’d ask who was there, what they were doing. He’d say to tell them that, ‘I’m coming in, I’ll be there in awhile.’ I’d tell the band, 'Axl called and said he’s coming in'. Then he’d never show up.


And that he would at times shut down operations:

It took two days to break the room down because he fired everybody. (Axl) would show up at two, two-thirty, and no one would be around, he’d get upset. 'Where are they?’ ‘I don’t know, they all left.’ Then he’d call the next day. 'Who’s there?’ ‘Just Josh.’ ‘OK, have everybody leave. Have them break everything down. We’re done.’


See later chapter for more information on Michael Bland and Josh Freese auditioning for the drummer position.

Dominguez would also describe how the band worked harder when they knew Axl was going to come in:

That was a little nerve wracking cause you know, everybody heard, "Oh, Axl's coming down tonight." So everybody kind of like freaked out and started actually working and getting stuff done. And then the band was rehearsing. [...] Cause there were times where the band would just rehearse and kind of go, cause he wouldn't get in there until like one, cause we were at 7pm to 7am, he wouldn't get in there until 1am sometimes. And so sometimes the band would come in and rehearse for a couple hours and go, "Oh," and then just hang out and do nothing. They're like, "Oh, we hear he's coming." So they'd start rehearsing again. So this is one of those times where he actually came down, he came down early for him, which is probably eight or nine o'clock. And the band was rehearsing and I was in the control room with a guy named Tommy Demetrioff, who was like their coordinator, I guess you can call him. He was like their live sound guy at some point too. And he went out of control and Axl walked in and he was like, you know, he introduced me to him. And it was him and Beta and Fernando, Beta's son. [...] [Axl] was there just to check out, see how things were going because within the first month or so I guess the idea was to rehearse Appetite top to bottom and then record Appetite.


A spokesperson said that it was highly unlikely a record would be out this year [MTV News, April 21, 1998]. At the same time, according to Spin, a source would claim that the band has amassed more than 1,000 rehearsal tapes [Spin, April 1998].

It's entirely possible that Guns N' Roses will deliver an album by the end of the year. But I've been saying that for the past three years.


Talking about the slow progress:

Axl is concerned about being relevant.

Axl is really worried about what's gone on musically in the '90s. Most of Use Your Illusion I & II was written while we were on tour. But then when it came time for this record, he had too much time on his hands and started overanalyzing everything and studying bands he heard on the radio and saw on MTV. Truth is, if kids want to buy a techno record, they're not going to buy Guns N’ Roses.

Axl isn’t going to force an album because of commercial pressures. He’ll keep trying different people and things, and when it’s right—however long it takes—he'll be ready to put out a record.

Slash and Axl really thought they could work out their differences. They tried for a couple of years to see if they could agree creatively. Once it became clear that they couldn't, we then had to assemble people who could.


By April is was claimed Geffen had spent "well over $1,000,000" on the project and that the ever-changing release date had "become a running joke at the label" [Spin, April 1998].


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 3:56 pm; edited 19 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:37 pm

JANUARY 1998
THE BAND STARTS REHEARSING AND EVENTUALLY RE-RECORDING APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

Studio engineer Dave Dominguez would mention that the first thing the band did after moving into Rumbo in January 1998 was to rehearse Appetite for Destruction:

[...] I guess the idea was to rehearse Appetite top to bottom and then record Appetite. [...] I was there when they were rehearsing Appetite for, you know, for months.


Dominguez would think the idea was to release individual songs from these recording, possibly to present the band to the fans:

I guess the idea was later to release a song every here, every now and then by the new band of Appetite on the Internet only. Not a record, but just releasing it on the Internet of that band's version of Appetite songs.


As they were setting up Rumbo, Dominguez believes copies of everything was also sent to Axl's home studio:

[...] for the first three months we were receiving, there was FedEx or UPS every single day, keyboards, guitars, and then - from what I understand, I don't know for a fact - Axl has a studio at his place, was that everything, all the keyboards that were being delivered, the replicas were being delivered to Axl's as well. So there was a ton of money spent, ton of money. Like I think I saw paperwork at, when I laughed it, was millions like they had spent at that point. Eight months in [=by August 1998] it had been a couple of millions.


According to Dominguez, his meticulous note keeping was the reason he became Axl's man in the studio crew, and he would tell an anecdote about how this happened:

We got the call that Ed [Rosenblatt]'s coming in with Axl. They're driving in. Axl calls me and says, "Dave, do you know that song?" Yeah, yeah," "okay, find those and set it up." And he says, "Find Tommy D [=Tommy Demetrioff?] and have him set those up." Because Tommy D is a production coordinator. He's like in charge. And I don't even care anymore. But Tommy D was just like, could not handle the pressure. He wasn't an engineer. He was a live guy. He wasn't an engineer. So I go to find Tommy D and say, "Hey, hey, man," "You have to do it mate." So I find it, I set it up, I do a rough mix. Ed and Axl get there and he goes, "Hey, where's Tommy?" like, "I don't know." And he's like, "Do you know what's going...?" "Yeah, yeah." So I've got Ed, the head of Geffen on one side, I got Axl on one side, and I'm doing rough mix and, "Hey, can you bring that up a little bit?" "Yeah." They listen, "Oh, great," and they leave. And I go, "Hey," and he's like, "Where's Tommy?" "I haven't seen him, like after I told him he didn't know where the song was." So he's like, "Okay." And then I see a little light, all the lights are off in one of the rooms, and I see a little light. "Why is there a long light on?" I put it in there, looks, and it's Tommy sitting in the room smoking a cigarette with the lights off. I hear nothing. Cuz Axl roasted him more than anybody. Axl completely roasted him all the time. If something went wrong and it was in Tommy's area, Tommy got the brunt of it. Tommy wasn't an engineer, a studio engineer, so he couldn't figure things out. So like the live sound stuff, that's what he did. So if it was in the studio, he had no clue. So it was me. And it was nice because at some point, like I keep copious notes so like they would do stuff and Axl say, "Oh, I really like that," I wrote my note, "Axl liked this," and then he would come in like three days later and kind of go, "Man, remember that one thing we did?" I opened my notebook, "Is that that, you said you were?" like, "Yeah!" and he goes, he looks at, "What do you do?" It's like, "I take notes," and like and he literally looked at Tommy, goes, "That's what you should do." And so like two days later or three I knew exactly Axl made a comment about this and this is the time and I put those tapes up and played it and from that point on I became the guy that Axl would call me directly instead of the band. He wouldn't call Tommy, he'd call me. "Tell the band to do this," "Tell the band to do that," "I want to do this." It's like, "Okay, great."


Dominguez would also mention a funny anecdote about pranking Axl from when they were rehearsing the Appetite songs:

And then [Axl] would come in and listen, you know, he sometimes he'd call and say, "I'll be down at midnight," and it would never show up. And then he'd say, "I'll be there at 1," and show up at 11. And then he would come in and just kind of check out what was going on. And at one point, like I had heard it a hundred times by that point, so I would just mute the console and just watch TV and like look out and like, "Nothing's on fire, no one's calling me, I'm good." And MTV was on and there was a Guns video on the TV and he walked in as they're playing, like, whatever it was. It was like Paradise City was on the TV and they're rehearsing like Brownstone or something. And he walked in. I don't know, this will get him in trouble, but he walked in and went, he goes, "Hey, can I hear what they're doing?" And, boom, I unmuted the console and he's [?] and he just kind of waves, and so I muted, lowered it and he goes, "That's the greatest cover band I've ever heard." I was like, "Oh, okay."


Axl would later claim they had done it because they had to rehearse the songs anyway for live performances:

[...] and why do that? Well, we had to rehearse them anyway to be able to perform them live again, and there were a lot of recording techniques and certain subtle styles and drum fills and things like that that are kind of '80s signatures that subtly could use a little sprucing up... a little less reverb and a little less double bass and things like that.


By late 1999, the band had recorded the songs:

In fact, actually, I have re-recorded "Appetite" and-- […] Yes, I have [re-recorded Appetite for Destruction]. Yes [the whole album]. Well, with the exception of two songs, because we replaced those with "You Could Be Mine," and "Patience" [...]


It is not clear which two songs were replaced, but likely songs that were not intended to be played live, so possible Anything Goes and Think About You, but this is just speculation.

Moby, who apparently still was in contact with Axl after having formally left the project two years earlier, would also confirm that the new band had re-recorded Appetite [Kerrang! August 21, 1999].

Axl would discuss his plans for the album:

I don't know what I'm going to do with it, exactly, when I would be putting that out. But you know, it has a lot of energy. Learning the old Guns songs and getting them up, you know, putting them on tape, really forced everybody to get them up to the quality that they needed to be at. Once the energy was figured out by the new guys, how much energy was needed to get the songs right, then it really helped in the writing and recording process of the new record.


And Axl would also list the musicians on the re-recording:

Josh Freese on drums, Tommy Stinson on bass, Paul Tobias on guitar -- you guys know him as Paul Huge, that's how it's been written everywhere. It's Paul Tobias on guitar, and Robin Finck was on lead guitar, but that... that will stay on some of it. Robin's guitar will stay on some, but not all.


With Tommy being on the record, it means the actual recording happened after April 1998 (when Tommy joined) and before November 1999.

Axl would also later comment on the band learning the old songs in connection with the band playing old GN'R songs at Rock in Rio 3 in January 2001:

Well, they are truly Guns N’ Roses in the sense that at first they didn’t want to (laughs). They didn't want to play the old songs that much, because they are their own musicians. In other words, they had a punk attitude like old Guns N' Roses. […] But then it became fun for them, and they began to really appreciate the songs and they really enjoy playing them.


Rumurs would have it the actual reason Axl wanted to re-record Appetite was to be able to license out songs without having to pay royalties to the AFD lineup. Duff and Slash would comment on this possibility:

l have nothing to say about that. I just wouldn't have an idea on where to start.

Oh, you don't ask me that particular question. I have nothing but negative things to say about something like that.


In 2008, Axl would be asked if he intended to release the re-recorded album:

It’s really just a dat and maybe but it was just for learning purposes, more like rehearsal’s.


And Dominguez would be asked about the location of the re-recorded Appetite:

Oh yeah, probably [in Axl's vault]. It was all on ADAT and DAT. And yeah, I know it's somewhere that with that band doing Appetite.


And in 2015, Richard would be asked about the re-recorded album:

Now I know that they did some stuff. I think it was sort of, this was before I was in the band. And I think it was not for that reason. But to sort of get a read of where they were reading wise, sonically. And it was songs that everyone knew. I don't think it was with the intent of being able to relicense and not have to pay the old band. Or to control the masters. And that happens. [?] for other bands where I've gone in and put stuff in., re-recorded stuff.


In 2020, Fernando would express doubts that the album was re-recorded:

I mean, I think the only, no, yeah. I don't remember that at all.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Wed Nov 20, 2024 11:27 am; edited 18 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:38 pm

FEBRUARY-AUGUST 1998
YOUTH IS FIRED AS THE PRODUCER WHEN AXL DISCOVERS HE HAS A BONUS FOR RUSHING THE ALBUM

In February 1998, it would be reported that fors producers were considered for the project: Scott Litt (R.E.M.), Steve Lillywhite (U2), Mark Bell (Bjork) and Youth (real name Martin Glover, from the Verve) [Rolling Stone, February 20, 1998]. In February 1998, Bryn Bridenthal would also confirm that Axl was meeting with different producers [MTV News, February 11, 1998]. In April it was reported that Youth had been selected, but again no one would officially confirm this [MTV News, April 21, 1998].

I went to his house and we started writing songs, strumming guitars in the kitchen. That was a major breakthrough because it got him singing again which he hadn't done for a long time.


Youth would later talk about the band rehearsing the old songs for a Greatest Hits package:

When I walked into the studio, they were rehearsing the old songs to record for a greatest hits package. They were gonna do them exactly the same way. So my first project was to sort of dissuade Axl from doing that.


Youth dissuading Axl from re-recording Appetite would not work though, as the songs had been rerecorded by 1999 [see later chapter], after Youth had been fired from the project.

By April 1997, rumours would spread that Youth had indeed been chosen as the producer for the album [Rolling Stone Magazine, September 18, 1998], but according to other sources, things just "didn't work out" [Rolling Stone Magazine, September 18, 1998]. In September, it was again reported that Youth would indeed be producing the music that would come out of the planned September recordings [Muzic.com, September 3, 1998].

Youth would later talk about Axl being isolated in this period and that Youth got him singing again:

[Axl] kind of pulled out, said ‘I’m not ready.’ He was quite isolated. There weren’t very many people I think he could trust. It was very difficult to penetrate the walls he’d built up.

I got him singing. He hadn’t been singing for around 18 months. I think the record had turned into a real labour. He was stuck and didn’t know how to proceed, so he was avoiding it.

He had some brilliant ideas, but they really were just sketches. He really wanted to leave the past behind and make a hugely ambitious album, like Led Zepellin’s Physical Grafitti crossed with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.


Even if Youth managed to get Axl back to singing again (and we don't know if it is true he had stopped singing), Dave Dominguez would barely record any vocals in the period of January to August 1998 [see later chapter].

Youth would also give his opinion on why the record hadn't been released by July 2001:

Partly perfectionism. But the psychology is that if you have something out you get judged so you want to stay in a place where you don't get judged. Which means it is a good sign that now he's playing live.


YOUTH IS FIRED

Doug Goldstein would later shed light on Youth and GN'R and state that "he just wasn't the guy":

Axl tried out Youth; he was great, he just wasn't the guy.


Youth would give his account of the story and why he split with Axl and he "had to pull out":

So I said, 'Next time I come over I want to record the songs', and he said, 'You're pushing me too fast'. I had to pull out. Sadly, because I think he's one of the last great showmen of rock, incredibly committed and passionate.


Later it would be reported that Youth did "four or five" spells with Guns N' Roses [Q, July 2001]. It would also be rumored Youth had been fired when Axl learnt that he had been offered a $1 million bonus if the album came out on deadline [What's On Dubai, December 2010].

In 2019, Dominguez would confirm that Youth was fired after Axl discovered Youth had an agreement where he will receive a bonus if the record was released by a certain date:

[...]because they had hired Youth to do the record and then Axl fired Youth. Youth went back to England and then Axl came in and he found out some info that I guess Youth had signed an agreement, was gonna get like an extra hundred grand if he got him in the studio by a certain time and the record out by a certain time. Something ridiculous like that. [...] when Axl found out about that, he literally like, I was the only one in the room, he kicked everybody out, said, "You can stay, Dave," because I was working on something, and like, talked to the manager, I think talked to him, like for... I thought it was going to be a half hour discussion, when he started to explain what was going on, like I heard this, and it was five minutes, like, "Yeah," and "[?]," and "[?]," "we're done," and hung up.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Wed Apr 10, 2024 8:53 am; edited 12 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:38 pm

FEBRUARY 11, 1998
AXL IS ARRESTED IN PHOENIX

In the evening of February 10, 1998, Axl was arrested at Phoenix airport for "disorderly conduct" [MTV News, February 11, 1998; Arizona Republic, February 12, 1998].

Rose had been celebrating his 36-year birthday in Phoenix with friends, and got in a fight with security screeners at the security gate at the airport [MTV News, February 11, 1998; Arizona Republic, February 12, 1998]. According to a spokesperson for Axl, "a bubble-wrapped glass gift" that had been in his carry-on baggage, "began to topple to the floor" and when Axl "grabbed the falling gift" he was told to stop which resulted in a squabble [MTV News, February 11, 1998].



Axl mug shot
February 11, 1998



According to sergeant Mike Torres of the Phoenix Police Department, had refused to let airport personnel inspect his carry-on bag, and began shouting obscenities which resulted in his arrest  [MTV News, February 11, 1998].  More specifically, as Axl was told the carry-on had to be hand-checked, he allegedly started swearing, shaking his fist in the person's face, and yelling, "I’ll punch your lights out right here and right now!" [Police Report, February 10, 1998; Arizona Republic, February 12, 1998]. He also allegedly said, "I don’t give a fuck who you are. You are all little people on a power trip"  [Police Report, February 10, 1998; Arizona Republic, February 12, 1998]. When he was told that if he didn't stop his behaviour he would go to jail, Axl allegedly replied, "I don't give a fuck. Just put me in fuckin' jail. You are all a bunch of little people on a power trip!" [Police Report, February 10, 1998].

Bryn Bridenthal would comment on the incident:

[Axl] just wanted them to be careful and he just wanted to protect it. He had just a normal, everyday reaction to it.

His response wasn’t a particularly rock-and-roll response or an unusual reaction.


As the result of the commotion, Axl was charged with one case of a class one misdemeanor, which would merit either a $2,500 fine and/or six months in jail [MTV News, February 11, 1998]. Axl would have to go before the court in ten days for sentencing [MTV News, February 11, 1998]. Court date was later set to January 8, 1999 [MTV News, December 3, 1998] and then postponed to February 5 [MTV News, January 8, 1999]. At the court hearing Axl phoned in a plea of no contest and received a $500 fine and time served (the 2-3 hours Axl spent in jail when arrested) [MTV News, February 19, 1999]. According to sources, Axl decided not to fight the charges to be able to continue the work on the record [MTV News, February 19, 1999].


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:40 am; edited 9 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:38 pm

JANUARY-MARCH 1998
MICHAEL BLAND AUDITIONS; JOSH FREESE JOINS THE BAND

JAN/FEB 1998: MICHAEL BLAND AUDITIONS FOR THE DRUMMER SPOT

[...] I auditioned for [Guns N' Roses] in ’97. I think Josh Freese was originally supposed to do the gig. I went to the NAMM show, and I ran into Axl at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, and then I went to the audition later that night. He was very cool to me. He didn’t seem at all like the person the press makes him out to be. The audition went well, but I knew they weren’t going to hire me, with them being a bunch of skinny white dudes…[laughs] Although that’s what Soul Asylum is too. [laughs]
Modern Drummer website, August 1, 2006

Dave Abruzezze(??) from Pearl Jam had just quit GNR. Josh [Freese] was a maybe.
Michael Bland, personal communication, April 27, 2021

I actually happened to meet Axl that afternoon at the Anaheim Convention Center.
We were both standing in the lobby of the place. He sent Earl(A bodyguard i had met and hung with while i was on tour with Paul Westerberg in 1996..) over to alert me to his presence.
Axl was dressed in cut off wide-leg jeans and an oversized hoodie. Earl walked me over to him and introduced us. We had a very quiet chat. He said he was looking forward to hanging later at Rumbo(A studio in N. Hollywood where GNR was holed up, working on “Chinese Democracy”).
Michael Bland, personal communication, April 27, 2021


The meeting between Bland and Axl happened on the Los Angeles NAMM that took place on January 29-February 1, 1998, not in 1997 as stated in the first quote above. This is clear from Bland's descriptions of who was in the band (Duff and Matt gone and Josh not yet hired). The meeting wasn't entirely by chance, Paul Huge had contacted Bland about a month before and both knew they were going to the NAMM:

Paul asked me by phone, approximately one month before. I was in Italy, happened to call home and heard a voice message from him. We chatted, he told me Axl requested me to come out. I was headed out for NAMM, anyway. So, it was somewhat serendipitous occurrence.
Michael Bland, personal communication, April 27, 2021


Bland would say he was auditioned as a fail-safe in case things didn't work out with Josh Freese:

Josh was a maybe. I think he might have just been starting with A Perfect Circle and GNR anticipated conflicts.
I auditioned as kind of a fail-safe, in case things didn’t work out with him.
Michael Bland, personal communication, April 27, 2021


It doesn't make sense that Freese would be involved with A Perfect Circle already in early 1998; it was formed in 1999. But this quote still implies that Josh was considered for the band but hadn't made the decision to join yet, so the band auditioned Bland in case things fell apart with Josh.

At the time the band consisted of Robin and Paul with a bass tech filling in on bass:

I arrived, that night. Robin Finck immediately greeted me. We traded stories about Prince and Trent Reznor while waiting for everybody else to show up. Paul(?), a childhood friend of Axl’s, was running things. There was no official bass player, yet. So, the bass tech played with us.
Michael Bland, personal communication, April 27, 2021


The "bass tech" was more likely Billy Howerdel who was the band's protools guy (see quote from Josh below).

Talking about the audition:

We ran “Welcome To The Jungle”, “It’s So Easy” and “Mr. Brownstone”(i think..) over and over, while waiting for Axl to show up. Then, I ended up playing on some of the material that was in development for the new record. I remember Paul explaining that Axl was interested in a lot of new music. He was really into Fiona Apple.. and tired of the straight up Rock n Roll that GNR was known for. Apparently, the original band had broken up literally because the other guys didn’t wanna try to modernize or diversify, musically.
Michael Bland, personal communication, April 27, 2021


Describing the new music:

No vocals that i can recall. [...] There was no mention of who wrote what, or working titles.
Just tracks they had the engineer put up and take down.
There were electronic loops and piano, as well as rough gtrs and bass, if i remember correctly.
Michael Bland, personal communication, April 27, 2021


Unfortunately, Axl did not show up during the audition but came as Bland was about to leave:

I must have been at Rumbo for 3 hours or so. It started to look like Axl was gonna be a no-show. So, i called the car service to come back and get me. As i’m walking out and nursing my new blood blisters, in walks Axl. He apologized for missing things, and asked if i had fun. I tell him yeah, and that we did some recording. He said he was excited to check it out and that someone would be in touch.
Michael Bland, personal communication, April 27, 2021


No one did get in touch with Bland and this concluded his involvement with Guns N' Roses [Michael Bland, personal communication, April 27, 2021].


MARCH 1998: JOSH FREESE IS CONFIRMED TO PLAY WITH THE BAND

As mentioned above, Josh Freese had been considered for the job as the new drummer in the band already in late January 1998 and in March 1998 it would be reported that Josh Freese had started rehearsing with the band [MTV News, March 5, 1998]. Most likely, based on a quote from Josh below, he actually started auditioning with GN'R already in '97. Band management would not confirm these rumours though, saying, "there's nothing we can confirm at this time, hopefully soon, but not now" [MTV News, March 5, 1998]. So whatever was the issue that caused the band to rehearse Michael Bland as a failsafe, must have been settled by then. Later, Josh would say that his two-year contract was coming up around the time he resigned from the band, and this happened in March 2000 which would suggest he signed for the band in March 1998.

Josh would describe how he came in contact with the band::

The music business can be a very small community sometimes. I guess my name came up. I thought it was different than a lot of projects I've been involved with. It turned a lot of heads with my friends.

When I got the call to go down and audition for Guns N’ Roses, I was at a rehearsal place in LA doing pre-production for a record, and I had a message on my machine from their manager and thought, “What?!” I called him back, and he asked me if I wanted to audition. But it seemed too big, like a bigger-than-life band. I had a lot of things going on at the time, so I said, “I don’t know, it seems very time-consuming. I’ve got to think about it. I don’t want to waste your time if it isn’t something I really want to do.” He was cool about that, but he was persistent. A couple of days later he said, “Just come down and meet with Axl and the guys.”

I went down and auditioned for them, sick as a dog—I had eaten some bad seafood in London right before that, gotten on a plane, and auditioned that night. I was vomiting all the way to the rehearsal. Axl was totally cool, though, and very open-minded about music. He said, “I heard you played with Devo. I really liked Devo—and when I liked Devo, you got beat up for liking Devo.” I thought, “This guy is really cool.” It became obvious that he really listens to music. He was talking about artists all over the map.

They invited me down a second time, and from the beginning Axl was so nice and we got along and had a good time. He was completely open. So I decided to join.

What happens is they're looking for a drummer. The whole band was falling apart basically, everyone was quitting or getting fired or both, I don't know. [...] Who knows what happened. But they're looking for a drummer. And it was '97 and I'll never forget, a now defunct rehearsal studio, Cole Rehearsal studios, it was in Hollywood, right around the corner from the Dragonfly, like on Cole and Willoughby. Anyways, they were rehearsing and I had a pager, okay, '97, right, a pager. I might have had a cell phone, but I don't know the phone number, you opened it for, like, if you blew a tire, or you're getting carjacked, you would use it for an emergency, you know. So the pager goes off. And I'm like, "What the hell is this weird Orange County number?" and I call it and it's their manager who was in Laguna at the time, south Orange County. "Hey, Guns N' Roses is looking for drummer and they're interested in you auditioning. Would you be into it?" and I was like, "Yeeeeah, uhm." I think I just kind of hurried off the phone and I was like, I kind of, like, mumbled a few things and kind of like tiptoed backwards out of the conversation because it wasn't something that I was really into at the time and I ended up being polite about it, but I end up hanging up and going, "I don't know if I wanna audition for Guns N' Roses." I had this band that was signed to AEM records at the time, that fell apart quickly due to drugs unfortunately, but a band called Slider. It was a very cool band, way too short lived. But this band I was trying to do on AEM called Slider, and I was playing with the Vandals and I was playing with Devo. But both the Vandals and Devo, neither of them were full time jobs. Neither of them were, you know. But I was doing gigs with Devo, I was doing gigs with the Vandals. I was playing on some records, do you know what I mean? I was making a living doing exactly what I wanted to do. And, "I don't know if I wanna join Guns N' Roses." [...] I liked Guns N' Roses. But like, what do you mean, Guns N' Roses? Slash and Izzy and those other dudes weren't in the band anymore. What's going on? I don't know. They called again... and or I told them I'd call him back. That was it, I called them back. When I called them back I'm like, "You know what? I should go down and just meet Axl." At this point he'd been our of the limelight for a while, he'd been out of the spotlight, and there were all these weird rumours about him, "Oh, I hear he is 300 pounds", and, "He is bald". You know what? I should go meet him. I like to form my own opinion about the guy rather than hearing all these rumours about him, right? Is he driving himself there? Is he taking a helicopter? Or a limo? What's he rolling up in these days? So I went down there to do it and he was cool. Actually, the first time I went down there he wasn't there. I auditioned, and, oddly enough, the two guys auditioning me were guys I would later be in two separate bands with. The guy that was playing bass, because they didn't have a bass player at the time, was Guns N' Roses' pro-tools engineer at the time, Billy Howerdel who would later do A Perfect Circle, but he was just the pro-tools guy and he strapped on a bass and I had no idea. Like, "Who's this weird bass roadie? Who's this bald bass roadie that's going to jam with us?" Later, he and I would have A Perfect Circle with. And on guitar was Robin Finck, the guitar player who had just left Nine Inch Nails to do Guns N' Roses, and who would later leave Guns N' Roses to rejoin Nine Inch Nails, and I played with Nine Inch Nails for a bit. Anyways, so we're down at the Complex in West LA or Santa Monica or wherever that is, and I auditioned and it went well and they said "We want you to come back" and "Axl wants to meet you," and I said, "Cool!" So I came back and I met Axl, and I liked him. He seemed like a cool guy. And I had so many people telling me not to do it, and actually - not to bring him up again - but I remember talking to Paul Westerberg, and Westerberg was the only one who said, "You should do it. Go do it! If everyone's telling you not to do it, you should go do it". I went, "Yeah, you're right." "What, am I gonna join some cool alternative rock band?" - this was in like in the late 90s - "What, am I going to be, like, in a grunge band?" And I have friends begging me, that will remain nameless in case any Guns N' Roses people listen to this, there were a couple guys in pretty famous bands that I'm friends with, they were begging me like, "Dude, what are you doing? What are you doing? You can't be in Guns, dude. You're insane to think you're going to be in Guns N' Roses." And I was like, "Oh yeah, I'm gonna give it a shot." So I went and did it and I signed a two-year contract [...]

I got a call from their now-ex-manager in 1997 saying, “Guns N’ Roses is auditioning drummers. They’d like you to audition.” I was busy at the time playing with Devo, and doing lots of Vandals gigs, and working with Paul Westerberg—my hero from the Replacements. I was already really busy not being a rich-and-famous rock star but being cool—being cool, working with people I loved and really stood behind and making a good living. I wasn’t filthy rich, but I wasn’t broke. So, I was like, “I’m good, man.” And I had a conversation with the manager, and he said, “Why don’t you just come down and meet Axl?” I said, “I don’t know.” And he said, “Listen, who knows if you’d even get the gig, and if you get the gig, you don’t have to say ‘yes.’ Just come down.” I think, “What have I got to lose?” At that point, no one had seen Axl in five years. You heard rumors, “I heard he’s 350 pounds.” “I heard he lost all of his hair.” You hear all these things. I was like, “I should go down. Does he drive himself or does he take a limo? Does he show up with his sister? Does he show up with the porn stars? Does he take a helicopter? Let me see how this dude rolls.”


Based on this, Josh harbored doubts about joining Guns N' Roses already from the beginning, and this could explain why the band also reached out to Michael Bland. Josh would later talk about not necessarily needing the gig but that the enigma of Axl made him decide to audition:

I was pretty busy at the time, so I didn't really need the job necessarily. Then I decided that I should go down there because I wanted to meet him. At the time, no one had seen him for a couple of years and there were all these rumors. He had become the Howard Hughes of rock 'n' roll and I wanted to see it. I went down and I liked him. He wasn't the monster that was painted of him.


And Josh liked Axl:

So, I went down and met him, and I really liked him. He was really nice. He was talking about Devo, and instead of throwing out “Yeah, I used to like ‘Whip It.’” Instead of saying something like that, he started naming other songs. “Dude, ‘Uncontrollable Urge’ is great. ‘Gut Feeling.’” And I’m like, “This guy knows.” He’s not just saying he likes Devo and remembering that one hit from 1983. He knows his shit. He does like Devo. He’s like, “I want someone to come down here and write with me. I don’t want you to just be the drummer.” I was like, “I’m going to check it out,” and I had a lot of friends begging me not to do it. I had people going, “Dude, what are you doing? That’s insane.” I have to say, to Paul Westerberg’s credit, Paul Westerberg’s the one guy who said, “You should do it. Go do it. It sounds totally wrong; go do it. What are you going to do, be in some totally cool alternative band? Are you going to join the Foo Fighters or something obvious? Go play with Guns N’ Roses. Nobody knows what they’re doing. There’s all these weird rumors about him. You should go do that for a minute.”


Despite Josh deciding to join after having met Axl, a "source close to Josh" would imply that Josh was just in it for the money:

They're paying Josh an obscene amount of money for two days of rehearsal a week. [But] Josh has kind of an 'I don't give a fuck' attitude about it.


Later, Josh would talk about his remuneration:

And there's a lot of rumors. You know. Everyone's like, "Dude, I heard you got paid $1,000,000," you want to put your pinky up like in Austin Powers, "$1,000,000 to join Guns?" Fuck no. Nothing like that. It was good money and it was good money for me at the time being a single guy with no kids and being....Let me think how, how old was I? Probably about 24-25, I guess, 24-25. Yeah, I was getting a decent sized weekly paycheck and I was still being able to, like, because I was doing it in the evenings, I was still... this one record was happening all the freaking time, too, so I'm planning records all day, I'm doing sessions during the day and then going there at night and doing his thing. And oh, not touring a lot but not needing to and not even thinking about, I mean, like I said, going out of town once in a while with the Vandals and once in a while with- [...] I was making a bunch of records during the day with people and then going to work with Axl at night and. But yeah, I did hear rumors about people... There was no, I didn't get a big signing bonus, you know, and I wasn't out shopping for Ferraris the next day or anything. It's like, "Okay, I'm gonna make good money every week. This is great. It's cool. I don't have to worry about rents and..." you know, it was awesome. You know, it was, it was. It was good but it wasn't ridiculous. It wasn't, "Go buy yourself a crazy car and a cool house," none of that shit. But you know, I've heard through the grapevine, "Hey, I heard that," you know, "you got this" or "you got that." It's usually not the case, you know, when people think that kind of shit, you know? But who knows? You know, I don't know. I mean, I read some stories about Robert Trujillo, who I used to play with, who plays bass in Metallica. [...]Well, that happened to Robert but not to yours truly. Like, I got nothing. I got a rock, man, like Charlie Brown on fucking Halloween.


Brain, who would later replace Josh, would mention congratulating Josh on getting the job:

I think we did like an award show up here in San Francisco and I remember Josh was there and I don't I think he was playing with Devo, maybe? At that point I don't know if he was playing with anybody, he just might have been there and I had kind of met Josh through, you know, some people or whatever, you know, in passing. I didn't really know him that well and, you know, or whatever, but we were doing this award show and Bucket was sitting in with us. Bucket knew him. I remember seeing Josh at the table and everybody around town was like, "Oh shit," you know, he got the Guns N' Roses gig and it was like, "Oh man, that's the heaviest gig you can ever get, the Guns N' Roses," you know, like that. And I remember going up to him like, "Dude, well shit, you're like the heavy, man, you got the Guns gig," and he was like, "Oh, I can't talk about it," you know, because that was, like, you signed an NDA and you couldn't talk about anything, what was going on.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:40 am; edited 11 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:39 pm

JOSH BEFORE GUNS N' ROSES

I was infatuated with music and drums at an early age. I come from a pretty musical family. My grandparents on my dad’s side both taught music in school, my mom is a classical pianist, and my dad, who is mainly a tuba player, was conducting the band down at Disney World in Florida when I was born. Thank God he was transferred to the California Disneyland when I was six months old.

There was so much music in my house. My earliest memories are watching my dad conduct the big band and jazz band at Disneyland. I remember getting a trumpet for Christmas when I was six, and I played that for about four months. But my dad had an endorsement with the brass department at Yamaha, and somehow he also had a drumset from them, which was up in our attic. It was a Yamaha Recording series kit, which is a pretty extravagant first kit.

The earliest pictures of me playing were when I was seven or eight, standing, with huge ’70s headphones on, with a snare drum and a cymbal, Stray Cats’ Slim Jim Phantom style. That might have lasted about a month before I got the nerve to ask my parents if we could bring the whole drumset down from the attic.

I remember my dad sat down behind the drumset and played the simplest 4/4 beat, and it sounded like a record to me. He told me to try it, and I was able to do it right away. I started playing to Van Halen, Queen, and Devo records. It’s ironic that I’ve gotten to play with Devo; it’s such a dream come true to play with people I’ve admired since I was in first grade.

I never really noticed that music and drumming was this big serious thing for me. But my mom remembers how I’d get up at 7:00 a.m. to call Zildjian on the East Coast before I went to school. I’d be talking shop with [veteran cymbal expert and then-artist relations manager] Lenny DiMuzio when I was in the fifth grade. I just think I had a lot of determination then [...]

I always say—half-joking but serious, too—that when little boys are day dreaming of cool-sounding jobs “when they grow up,” that being a drummer is right up there alongside of astronaut, baseball player, fireman, etc. My dad conducted the Disneyland band since I was born, and I was around big band music a lot. There was always a bunch of instruments around our house, and I noticed there was a drum set up in our attic. I thought there was no chance in hell my parents would let me take it down and set it up for me, but somehow they went for it. My dad played me the most elementary Rock ‘n’ Roll 101 beat, and I sat down and immediately played it. I fell in love instantly and then spent the next few years playing along to Van Halen, Devo, Police, and Queen records before taking formal lessons.


As young, his most important drum teachers were Ron Romano and Ray Burns, and he also took lessons from Terry Bozzio and Gregg Bissonette [Modern Drummer, March 2003].

[Burns] was a great teacher. I’ve tried to teach, and I suck at it. People ask me all the time to give them lessons, and I tell them not to waste their time. Some guys are great teachers and some guys aren’t.


Josh would also get tutoring from Vinnie Colaiuta, whom Josh met at a NAMM show at the age of 11:

I’d sit behind Vinnie and I’d leave being half-inspired and half-discouraged. He was phenomenal, and then he’d be cool enough the next day when I’d call him at 9:00 a.m. to answer my stupid questions, like, ‘What kind of bass drum beater were you using last night?’ He had probably gotten to bed two hours before, but he was always cool to me.


While playing on a Simmons electronic drum kit at NAMM, Josh was discovered by Simmons and asked him to represent their company to the youth market [Modern Drummer, March 2003], and he spent the next three years as the electronic drummer beside the set drummer in a Disneyland band called Polo [Modern Drummer, March 2003].

And started working professionally from the age of 12:

can pinpoint when I started playing professionally very easily, because in 1985, when I was 12, I got a job playing in a Top 40 band out at Disneyland. I had to join the musician’s union. I started getting paid to play the drums and having to pay taxes on that money. So I’ve paid taxes every year since I was 12 from drumming income. Other than a paper route I had for about six weeks when I was 10, this is the only job I’ve ever had.

Imagine five dumb young white kids in Orange County California, Star Search Champions in Disneyland. Hence the horrible name Polo. I was about twelve or thirteen, and didn't know any better. I don't want anyone to think that I was an adult, playing Huey Lewis and the News covers at Disneyland.


Josh's interest in the band Devo was substantial:

I grew up a huge Devo fan, but by the time I was eleven or twelve, I had read many articles in Modern Drummer with Terry Bozzio, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Chad Wackerman, where they were saying, ‘Playing with Frank Zappa was so challenging... playing with Frank was so this... playing with Frank was so that....’ So I started going out and buying Zappa records, and I became infatuated with that music at a pretty young and impressionable age.


His interest in Frank Zappa led him to become the drummer in a trio with Dweezil, nephew of Zappa [Modern Drummer, March 2003]. While playing with Dweezil, Josh befriended Zappa's bassist Scott Tunis, who turned Josh onto punk rock [Modern Drummer, March 2003].

Scott started me on the road of appreciating simple, soulful music and taught me that it doesn’t have to be tricky—it doesn’t have to be a circus act—to have validity. He taught me about the beauty of The Ramones and how important they are to popular music. I was thinking, “Really? The Ramones? How could this guy who can sightread all this crazy music tell me how important Dee Dee Ramone is as a bass player?” To this day, I carry that thought with me.

I would rather see someone play a Ramones’ song spot-on, with heart and soul, than play some lick they learned out of a book, with all the chops in the world. Chops can be fantastic to watch, but they don’t make the whole world tap their foot, cry, or get excited. Chops can make your jaw drop and your eyes widen for a few seconds, but the feeling in the heart is different.

Scott taught me the importance of everyone from Midnight Oil and The Butthole Surfers to The Sex Pistols. I had automatically discredited them in my mind because I was listening to jazz and fusion. But going through phases is part of the fun of being a teenager. One day you decide, “That band sucks, this is where it’s at.” And the next you decide, “That’s not where it’s at, this is.” All the phases bring you finally to a point where you’re not afraid to admit that you really liked this particular Tom Petty record. At nineteen or twenty, I wouldn’t have told my punk-rock friends that. But Tom Petty, and people like Jim Keltner, Jeff Porcaro, Charlie Drayton, and Steve Jordan, are classic examples of how amazing playing can be without it being a circus act.

Scott Tunis taught me the beauty of a guy playing 4/4, laying it down to the point where nothing else matters. That’s when you shake your head half in disgust because it’s so good and half in awe because you can’t believe you’re getting excited about someone playing a simple midtempo 4/4. That’s not supposed to be hard, but to make it feel that way is hard.


This lead to Infectious Grooves and Suicidal Tendencies, as well as a growing career as session drummer for punk bands [Modern Drummer, March 2003].

Josh then hooked up with Paul Westerberg and The Vandals [Modern Drummer, March 2003], and this was about when he was 16 [Cosmik Debris Magazine, November 2000]. Albums by Juliana Hatfield, Meredith Brooks, Chris Cornell, Tracy Bonham, Indigo Girls, and Puddle Of Mudd followed [Modern Drummer, March 2003].



The Vandals, Josh to the far left.



Talking about his vast experience as a session drummer:

I’ll get a call from a producer who says, ‘Josh, I need you in the studio next week. The band is back wherever they live. We have all the Pro Tools files open—it will be you, me, the computer, and an engineer. You have to redo three or four songs.’ So I’ll go in, knock out the tunes, and a lot of times I don’t even hear the finished record. Sometimes it ends up being a hit without my even realizing it.

I’ve tracked down, become friends with, and gotten to work alongside almost every one of my heroes. A lot of those people don’t make a ton of money, but as a fan, a kid who was always more into the underdog, that’s the music I fell in love with. Before there was alternative music, I was into it. I’ve gotten to work with people who I consider to be true artists, and to me that’s way more rewarding than the big money. I’ve played with some big-money people, too, but that’s never the motivation.


And being replaced himself:

I often get called to play on a track or two of a band where I don’t get credited, or sometimes it might say “additional percussion by Josh Freese,” but I really played on the three singles on the record. Sometimes it’s a band without a drummer, or they’ve fired the drummer in the middle of the record. I’ve been in every situation—the drummer is there and he’s pissed off, or the drummer is there and he’s excited that I’m going to help out, or the drummer isn’t there and the rest of the band is trying to keep him away from the studio.... It’s always some sort of weird political thing, and it’s egos, friendships, and business.

I remember the first time I was replaced in the studio, about ten years ago, and it was done behind my back. I don’t feel bad about it now, because not only have I since replaced guys who I think are great, but at the time I was only twenty. I recorded a track, but the producer didn’t have a check for me and told me to stop back whenever I was in the neighborhood to pick it up. This was someone I worked with all the time. So I pulled up to the studio the next day and heard live drums through the wall and thought, “Oh, he must be producing a band.” I walked in and started chatting with the secretary and suddenly realized I recognized the song— it was the same one I had recorded. I didn’t say anything and didn’t make anyone feel uncomfortable. I left feeling kind of sad, with my ego bruised, but it was probably good for me. I probably thought I was hot stuff at the time, so it was good for me. Now I realize it doesn’t mean that you didn’t do a good job.

I called that producer a couple of days later and said I didn’t want to put him on the spot, but I wanted to know what I did wrong. He explained that the artist felt the drums were tuned way too floppy and he wanted something a little more pop with a higher-pitched snare, and a little lighter approach. I still felt awful, but right around that same time—within a week— there was an article in Modern Drummer called “Getting Replaced In The Studio” with stories from guys like Jeff Porcaro, Jim Keltner, Denny Fongheiser, and Kenny Aronoff, and it made me feel better.


He then got to play with his childhood heroes, Devo:

Devo for me was like playing with Led Zeppelin or the Beatles. The first record I ever got in my life was a Devo record. Their guitarist produced a Vandals record, and when they kinda reformed, jumping on stage at Lollapalooza, they asked me to drum cuz they had a falling out with the original drummer. It was a blast playing the songs I grew up listening to. They're such bizarre, eccentric, intelligent weirdos.




Josh playing with Devo.



In 2009, Josh would talk about having auditioned for Pearl Jam in 1993:

In '93 or '94 I got flown up to Seattle to audition for Pearl Jam. You gotta remember, they were the biggest band in the planet at the time - and they're still amazing. I played with them and it was great. Stone Gossard wanted to pick me, but for whatever reason, it didn't happen. I guess I wasn't meant to be part of their 'family,' you know? But they're really cool guys, and I've stayed friends with Stone ever since. All things for a reason.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:39 am; edited 29 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:39 pm

APRIL 1998
TOMMY STINSON JOINS THE BAND

Well Tommy, he's pure cred. He's the most street cred dude you'll ever meet.

-----------------------------
The first rumours that Tommy Stinson would be replacing Duff came in April 1998 [MTV News, April 21, 1998; St. Cloud April 30, 1998].

Initially it would be reported that Tommy had been jamming with Guns N' Roses for three night a week for the last three weeks, but that he was not a permanent member of Guns N' Roses [Star Tribune, April 28, 1998]. Peter Jesperson, the head of Tommy's band Perfect's label Medium Cool Records:

This is not a permanent thing. Tommy made it clear from the start that he's got his own band. If Tommy were available, maybe they’d make an offer. It’s like someone asking him to do a session. […] He’s a musician. One day, he rehearsed with Perfect from 4 to 7 and with Guns ’N’ Roses from 10 to 3:30 in the morning. Tommy is working; it’s a joy to see.


In August it would be reported that Tommy was not officially part of Guns N' Roses [City Pages, August 5, 1998].

In 2011, Dizzy would talk about the favorable impression Tommy instantly made and how crucial he became at rehearsals:

Tommy and I, we get along great. He's one of a kind, man. I tell you, the first time he walked into the studio, I said, 'Dude, that's the guy.' He hadn't even played a note, but I could just tell. He's everything you need to be a bass player in a rock band. I don't want to say he takes control, but he does sort of guide us through rehearsals and, to me, it's important to have someone in that position. He's inspirational and he brings so much to the table. It could be any band - if he's committed to them, he's going to make them a thousand times better.


Later Tommy would say he was offered the job the day after he auditioned [Quad City Times, November 14, 2002].

I was doing a session with a friend of mine who played drums for GN'R at the time, Josh Freese. He was joking about them needing a new bass player. I laughed and said I'd play bass. The next day, they called. I learned about four or five songs. A day or so after the audition, they called and said, 'If you want it, you're in.' And I took it.

I wasn't much of a GN'R fan . . . when I was making [Replacements] records. We were a different breed. But you couldn't help but hear the GN'R stuff on the radio and on MTV every 10 minutes because it was the flavor of the day.

Josh Freese was playing drums for him when he and I did a session together in LA. And he said, 'Ya know we need a bass player...' because Duff (McKagan) had just quit. I learned a couple of songs, they called me up the next day and asked if I wanted to do it and I said 'Alright, cool.'

I wasn’t really a fan [of Guns N' Roses]. It wasn’t my circle. By the time the Mats ended, you have to realize that I’d gone through my phases of listening to punk rock and all of that, and I’d already done a Big Star phase. At the end, I was more into figuring out what I was about and kind of listening to more pop music, like the Waterboys—things that were sort of deeper. Guns N’ Roses wasn’t that genre; it was the other end of the dial. No bones about it—Axl and I have talked about it, and he was no more of a Replacements fan than I was a Guns N’ Roses fan. I couldn’t help but know about them, of course, but to say it wasn’t my thing is what I can truthfully say about it. Axl said he had gone to a couple of Mats shows in different places and didn’t really have much of an opinion about it, I don’t think. It didn’t really hit him either way.

My friend Josh Freese was playing drums with the band. I ran into him in a Hollywood rehearsal hall, and he mentioned that Duff had quit. Then he asked if I knew any bass players. We just kind of laughed about it, because it sounded like a funny thing for me to go audition for Guns N’ Roses. Guns N’ Roses were never my thing when the band first came out – they just weren’t my style. I thought at least it would be fun to play with Josh. But I learned five or six songs for the audition. We basically just jammed, and it was pretty fun. They seriously needed a bass player, so they asked if I’d do it.

It was kind of a fluke. A friend of mine, Josh Freese, was playing drums with them, and I asked him what he was up to, and he was like, “Oh, fuck, I can’t really talk about it, but I’ll tell you anyway.” And it turned out he was playing drums, and working on the record. He said, “It’s funny that you’re asking me, because Duff [McKagan] just quit, and we need a bass player.” I was just joking with him: “Oh, that would be a fucking hoot,” given my thoughts about Guns N’ Roses at that time. But I did it anyway just as a laugh, and it turned out pretty good. They didn’t really audition anyone else. They liked me, and because Josh was doing it, it was a compelling notion.

At the time, coincidentally, I was about to get kind of screwed by yet another record label with the Perfect record. I felt like, “You know what? This is enough.” It’s been five years of trying to get this thing going, I keep getting screwed, and I just want a break. So I looked at it as something to do until I figured out my next move. And it worked out pretty good, all things considered.

We did a session together; it was fun. And at that point, mentally, everything was working out. I was like, “You know what? Maybe I do want to play bass for them.”

My friend Josh Freese was playing for them. I went down on a lark, and it turned out pretty good. They didn’t really audition anyone else. I did it because I was trying to do a Perfect record and I was getting nothing but pains in the a– from the record label. I had been trying for five years to get this thing going, and I kept getting screwed. And I just wanted a break. It’s worked out for me. Axl been’s great to me.

I was rehearsing in the same rehearsal hall as Josh Freese was and he had already joined the band and was playing with them. He just kinda joked at me, saying, “Hey, we need a bass player, you should come. Try it out, man! We’re just having fun with it.”

I kinda went out there on a lark. I learned a couple songs, just went out there for fun and to see what it was about and not a whole lot happened after that so I had the gig. I was like, “Sure. Why not?”

I mean the idea after I talked to Axl about it, you know, what he was trying to get done after everyone quit the band, I thought was pretty fuckin’ ballsy and cool. So I was kind of in for that reason. [...] I learned a couple [songs for the audition], three songs and kind of winged it. I didn’t really contemplate a whole lot more than that. I was kind of testing myself as well.

Duff had quit and my buddy Josh Freese was already playing drums with them. And I happened to be rehearsing, you know, the rehearsal hall when Josh came in for some other band he was working with or whatever, and he had joked about me coming out and trying it out and make, "Now we need a bass player," and you know, kind of making fun of it kind of in a funny way. And I kind of said, "I'll try it out." So I actually learned up a few songs and went out there just on a lark. And, you know, they videotaped it and sent that to Axl and he was really into it and, you know, the rest is history. And he came down a couple days after that, we met, and the idea that was pretty, pretty punk rock, I mean, trying to maintain the whole thing without any of the other guys, the original lineup and stuff, was kind of ballsy, I thought. And I went in.


Talking about Josh:

I’ve known Josh [Freese] forever it seems. He’s a fantastic drummer, and he’s a funny guy, corky guy. I love him, everyone you know that has played with Josh Freese will tell you he’s funny, love playing with him, he’s a monster drummer.


Being asked why he thought he was the right guy for the gig:

The only thing I could grasp at is that I have the kind of punk-rock attack that Duff did. He wasn’t really a metal guy – he had punk roots. On the other hand, he’s got sensibilities that are different from mine. I couldn’t place exactly what they are – they’re unique to each one of us.


An anonymous source "close to" of Tommy would imply he joined Guns N' Roses because he was broke:

[Tommy] hadn't worked in a long time. Tommy didn't get nickel one from the Replacements. [So] he bought a used copy of Appetite, and learned the bass lines.


Paul Westerberg, Tommy's band mate in The Replacements, would say Tommy did it because he wanted to be a star:

I'm not the least bit surprised. People don't move to Los Angeles to be a musician or a songwriter. They go to be a star. That's what Tommy is doing. ... It's what he's always been groomed for.


Media would also point out that Tommy had previously mocked Axl Rose from stage when he was performing with the Replacements [Detroit Metro Times, August 20, 2003]. And Tommy himself would say he wasn't into Guns N' Roses:

You know, I wasn’t really into them. Guns weren’t my thing. That’s kind of the laughing point for Axl and I. He wasn’t really a ‘Mats fan and I wasn’t a Guns fan. I got into this band with him ’cause I thought the idea that he had of… the whole (expletive) band kind of left him sitting there, and he’s like, “Well (expletive) that, man. I want to work. I’m not gonna sit here and call it a day,” was kind of ballsy, so I was in.


Being asked if he had made fun about Guns N' Roses while in The Replacements:

A little bit, yes. I know I wasn't a big fan.


But Tommy would state he joined because of the novelty of what Axl's was doing:

When I took this gig, it was for the reason that no one else had — supposedly — ever done this in rock, resumed the band name with the leader and try to do a whole other thing, but still do the same thing. That’s the most interesting concept I can imagine.

All I can to do eliminate that (skepticism) is show up and do my gig. I don't really spend any time worrying about it, or giving it much thought. I’m working with this guy that I like working with, I like the music we’re playing.

I think it's turning out exactly that way. I don’t give a (crap) what people think, as long as they come out to the shows, and they have fun and we have fun.

[...]

I’ve always wanted to do something interesting, whether it was my own stuff or whatever. I’ve done a lot of crazy (stuff) musically over the last 10 years.

If it works out, it could be history making, 'cause no one's ever done this before. A lead singer's never taken the (band) name and continued on with an entirely new band and done that successfully before.

I kinda got into this for exactly that reason; if you're gonna try to do something really whacked, this would be the way to do it. I really don't think about the consequences either way; it's either gonna work or it's not, and in the meantime we're all having a good time trying to make it happen.

At the time, the options I was looking at, I had a few things on my plate. I had a record deal that I was pretty sure I was just about to get f**ked on, and I think at the time I felt ‘of these things I’ve got in front of me, what is the most interesting thing that isn’t going to be on my shoulders necessarily?’ Because, you know, you do your own thing for awhile and you’re carrying all that weight... Sometimes you go, ‘Ah, I can’t do that now. Let’s take a break from that.

Granted, GN’R wasn’t my thing at the time, but it’s been pretty awesome.

I got into Guns 'n' Roses because I looked at Axl and thought, "This guy's the embodiment of punk rock." I've gotten strength from seeing how determined he is. [...] I've always had my instinct for people. I know bullshit when I see it.

I feel like I had been kind of climbing uphill for a while, and I thought maybe it was time to try something else for a bit and try and regroup my musical flow, so to speak. And the G N’R thing came up and everyone looked at it as an opportunity to do something I hadn’t done before. And, uh, after auditioning and them liking me and stuff, I got to talkin’ to Axl about what he wanted to do. And what he was trying to do was something that had never really been done before and I thought, "Well, that’s pretty awesome. No one has done this before. I think this guy has a lot of fuckin’ balls to do it and I’m kinda into that." So I kinda felt like it would be cool to just go play bass and be in a band rather than have it all be on me. And that’s kinda what the whole point of it was, to kinda change it up.

I talked to Axl about what he wanted to do with this thing. It's never been done before, where the singer keeps the name while the other guys fucking quit. Just knowing what his goals were for the whole thing that I thought 'This is probably the ballsiest guy I've ever fucking played with, so I'm in.'

I was surprised, too. But Axl has some good reasons for what he's doing and what we're doin,' and I thought, 'You know, that's a ballsy fuckin' dude, I gotta check this out.'

I looked at it as more of an historical challenge. The way Axl presented the whole thing to me, it was like, 'Fuck, yeah. Let's see what comes of it.' That's probably why I stuck around for this long. I'm just waiting to see how it ends up.

We [Josh and Tommy] were chatting and he said they needed a bass player. I kinda thought he was joking, but then I checked it out and they wanted me to do it. I thought maybe it would be a good idea because it came right on the coattails of my band Perfect getting tossed under a bus. We finished our album and then the label didn't want to put it out, so I was about to pull my eyes out. I thought it would be a good opportunity to recover.

By the time I joined, I walked in going, ‘This sounds kinda punk rock what he’s trying to do and thinking of doing.’ You know, everyone quit, and [Rose] was like, ‘I wanna work. I didn’t spend 10 years on this to let it go now. F--- you guys! I’m going to keep it going.’ I thought that was pretty f---ing ballsy. I said, ‘I’m down.’ … I still think it was a good idea.

A friend of mine was playing drums for Guns when they were making Chinese Democracy and he said that Duff had quit and I...and he asked me just jokingly if I want to come try out and I said, "Nah, not so much," and then he kept... we were doing a session together for a woman named Joan Jones and he kept asking me if I wanna come out and try so I [?] "I can fucking play with you" - he's a really good friend of mine - so I thought, "If anything, I just go play with my friend Josh," you know, and they called me back and asked me if I want to be in the band. I said, "Yeah, sure." It was a good time for me to join a band. I was sick of trying to do what I was doing.

When they asked me to play in the band, I thought the idea of… Axl had the name, he owned it; it was his band. I thought what he was aiming to do to preserve himself and preserve his career and to keep going forward, I thought, was pretty punk rock. And I thought, you know, as ideas go, this is one of 'em, and it's a pretty good one. I thought it was pretty huge.

When I talked to Axl, his idea was very much punk rock. He owned the name and was like, 'the other fuckers all quit, and I got the name and I'm going on. I'm going on as Guns N' Roses.' Call me kooky, but at the moment, I was like, 'shit man, I'm with you.'


Being asked if Axl knew of his background:

He knew about the Replacements. He told me that he and [GNR tour manager] Del James had come to see us in some club, and they were not impressed. He and I both had a chuckle about the fact he wasn't a 'Mats fan and I wasn't a Guns fan.

We met 17 years ago at the studio when they, you know, they needed a bass player and I came in. Met him right there. [...] You know, I think we kind of joked around, I think he saw us play at some place with Del James some point, you know. Wasn't his cup of tea or something, I thought it was pretty funny. [?] joke about it.


And on the longevity of it:

I have no expectations whatsoever. As long as we’re having fun with it and people are having fun seeing it. I think I could be involved for an indefinite amount of time.


Tommy would also specifically address Westerberg:

[Westerberg]'s gone out on a limb to say a bunch of nonsense that's made me look bad, that's made Axl look bad, that's made him [Axl] feel bad... . It's just lame. It's really unnecessary, for one. I don't appreciate it, and Axl doesn't deserve any of it.


Being asked if he felt nervous about replacing Duff:

Not really, because I wasn’t in that scene when they were around originally.


Despite apparently working with Guns N' Roses, Tommy still had time for other projects, and on November 14, 1998, he was scheduled to play a show in New York city with his band 'Perfect' [Rolling Stone, November 14, 1998].

Later, Tommy would say he hadn't really understood the enormity of joining Guns N' Roses:

I didn't really ponder the enormity of it until I played a few shows with them, and then it was like, "Oh, jeez, this is like [expletive] bananas!' [...] The whole thing is pretty crazy, but I didn't think about that when I first joined. I thought it just seems like kind of a cool thing, I should check this out.

I never really was thinking that's where I'd want to go necessarily. It was almost sort of like the best thing for me at that time. I really just wanted to play bass for someone for awhile and take the stress of being a lead guy off myself, and also it seemed like about the most punk rock thing I could get involved with at the time. Axl was really trying to do something that no one had done or made a success out of before.

Not that 'Chinese Democracy' was necessarily a huge success, but I think in a lot of ways it was, because it came out and, you know, people bought it.


Looking back at his tenure in 2011 and indicating he had no plans of being a member for a long period:

Thirteen years now! That wasn’t supposed to happen, but I’m glad it did.

It started off as the most punk-rock idea I’d heard in years: Axl owned the name Guns N’ Roses and was determined to continue on with all of us other dudes and weather the storm. I thought it was a good idea then, and I still think it is, in that he’s proven that he’s unflappable. What he decides to do, he’s going to do, no matter what.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:38 am; edited 32 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:39 pm

TOMMY BEFORE GUNS N' ROSES

PERSONAL LIFE

Early love of music:

You know  I was into music as much as any kid was. I loved songs and I loved music and all that. I played baritone sax in sixth or seventh grade or whatever and then I played upright bass at one point. I had these kind of things going on, I guess back then when I was in school we were lucky enough to have music programs as part of the curriculum, back in the 1900s. So I was into it, I had my own records, I listened to my sister’s records when my brother was away.


Tommy has a tumultuous childhood:

The third and last time I got arrested was 'cause I'd stolen a bunch of bikes. I had to go to court. My mom had to take a day off of work. My grandmother came, too. The judge comes out into the hallway and says, "Mrs. Stinson, I gotta tell you: I've seen this kid too much. I'm inclined to send him away to reform school. Otherwise, he's just gonna keep showing up here and be a pain in my ass." As he's saying this, I'm sitting there watching my mom and my grandmother just fucking bawl their eyes out. I felt like the worst person on the planet. To this day, I remember how they looked. I remember how bad I felt. It was horrible.

I must have been 10 years old when my mom bought me my first AFX slot car set. At the time it seemed like the greatest gift ever. I found myself quickly saving my allowance so I could buy more cars to race my buddies and their slot cars.

The story goes a bit amok when I started having to steal the cars from the local Target store (which I think was the first ever Target) because I couldn’t afford to feed the monkey. We were pretty crafty at first—hiding under the womens’ apparel racks and taking the cars out of the packages so they couldn’t see us stealing them. What would the security guards say? We could just say we brought them in with us and they were our cars. What we didn’t know was that there were cameras everywhere.

As a result, by the age of 11, I had already been to jail and eventually they were threatening to take me away from my family and put me in a kids’ prison in Glenlake, Minn. Lucky (or unluckily?), my brother showed me how to play bass and the rest is history.

To some degree, I feel I missed out on my childhood – I grew up real quick, and sometimes I feel a bit of remorse. But I was kind of heading down a bad road when my brother taught me how to play bass. I was already getting into lots of trouble, and [if] he hadn’t done that, I would have been a disastrous teen – I wasn’t headed to the prom, let me put it that way.

You know, we just grew up, you know, in a fucking alcoholic family, you know, I just had the whole nine of just, you know, growing up in a, you know, sort of unstable, you know, survivalist kind of, you know, lifestyles for the kids, you know. [...] I had been to jail three times by that time [=by the time his brother taught him to play guitar] already. [...] [For] stealing shit. Running away. Doing bullshit. Breaking in houses and shit. Fucking... I was a creepy little kid.

I was fuckin’ in jail three times by the time I was 11, and my next fuckin’ trip would’ve been fuckin’ grand theft auto. I got very lucky.


Tommy had a daughter, Ruby, born in 1989 [Rolling Stone, January 27, 2017], who, in 1998, was living with his ex-wife in Minneapolis [The Dallas Observer, May 21, 1998].


1979-1991: THE REPLACEMENTS

Learning to play the bass:

It kind of got rammed into me. My brother saw me monkeying around on the bass once and asked me if I wanted to play, and I sad, 'Sure! Sounds kind of fun.' But it kind of hurt my fingers. I didn't really like it. He'd throw shit at me and beat up on me to get me to do it. And then he gives me fucking candy and Coke to keep playing it. I'd fucking tell our mom, and bitch that he's fucking making me do something I didn't want to do. It ended off working out pretty good, 'cause I ended up starting to like it after awhile.

One day when I was around 11 years old, my brother Bob saw me monkeying around on his bass. He asked me if I wanted to play it. I said yes, but it really hurt my hands. But his band needed a bass player, so he pretty much bribed me with Coca-Cola and candy bars. It went on like that until I got kind of good at it. I think my brother showed me how to play Yes’s “Roundabout” before he showed me [how] to play the blues scale [laughs]. “Show Me The Way,” “Boney Maroney,” and “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” were the first things I learned. I listened to everything my brother did: Yes, Rush, and Johnny Winter.

[Bob] caught me monkeying around with one of his guitars, his bass, actually, up in his bedroom and he asked me if I wanted to play and I'm like, "Sure." Then I started trying to play and it hurt, I wasn't into it, and then he goes, "Keep playing and I'll buy you candy bar" and it was like, "I'll buy you coke." And then when it hurt my fingers and I wanted to quit and I'd start crying, I had upped the ante, you know, and I kind of bribed him... so what he got out of it was a bass player, what I got out of it is fucking candy, you know.


Later, Tommy would mention how his therapist suggested it was Tommy's brother who saved him from a life of crime and not his mother when he had learnt him to play bass:

[...] and actually a therapist told me once, going through some stuff I was going through, that... because I would always talk about my mother and how my mother, you know, you know, really kind of, you know, kept it together for us, you know, into the, you know, stuff that she knew and the best she could do with and that, and I was at a therapist telling me, "You know, it's really your brother that actually saved your ass, not really your mom, your brother was the one that said, 'I'm gonna get you out of here.' And that's why he showed," she put it to me that way, "That's why he showed you how to play bass and he wanted to get you fuck out of that stuff" [...]


Tommy's most famous band before joining Guns N' Roses was 'The Replacements', and he started at the age of 12:

I started the band with my brother when I was 12, actually. He showed me how to play bass, and we quickly made a band out of what we were all doing. I don’t really have anything to compare it to, because that’s all I knew. So it was totally normal to me, though it was probably insane to other people. But it’s an odd thing to play nightclubs when you’re 14 years old, and sneaking off into the kitchen so you don’t get pulled up by the cops. Certainly the whole thing kept me from grand theft auto, which is where I was headed. At that age I was a thief, causing lots of trouble. By 11 I’d already been arrested a couple of times. But luckily my brother got me out of all that.


The Dallas Observer would describe the band:

What he was with the Replacements was the bass player, the guitarist's little brother, the teenage freakshow. His brother Bob might have lit fireballs of angst and reckless hilarity onstage, Tommy and drummer Chris Mars might have contributed equally to the band's hedonist legend, but it was singer-guitarist Paul Westerberg's songs of deep romantic yearning and youthful dissatisfaction that made the band's antics ring true. A bunch of drunk guys onstage pinching each other's asses doesn't mean much, but coupled with such songs as "Color Me Impressed" or "Here Comes a Regular" or "Unsatisfied" or dozens of others, the mischief played like passion, like every note might be the last.

As ever, the hard living took its toll. Bob was kicked out in '87 when his bad habits became too much even for his bandmates. Westerberg's marriage eventually fell apart. So did Tommy's. And Westerberg's songs became contemplative, mellow, mature. The band's cult and legend had failed to turn into much commercial success; the broken expectations, the personal conflicts, and the lifestyle itself eventually caused the band to self-destruct in 1991. Tommy had spent his teenage years in a drunken rock cartoon, and, since he hadn't been the songwriter, had few tangibles to show for it--save the stories about stink bombs, trashed Winnebagos, pissing in ice machines, bouncer riots, and chemical intake.


Tommy would himself talk about the reputation they had:

We did all that, no doubt about it. At one point we were actually laughing at the stories we were reading about Guns N' Roses: 'You've got to be kidding! They're writing about this?' We were an emotionally fucked-up bunch of guys. We were a few fries short of a Happy Meal, for sure. But I get really tired of people coming up and going, 'Man, you guys were so great! I saw you when you guys couldn't even stand on stage!' But do you remember any of the songs?


Interestingly, this quote came from an interview published in May 1998, about a month after the first rumours started spreading about Tommy being involved with Guns N' Roses. Curiously the interview doesn't contain questions regarding Tommy and GN'R, but Tommy's reference to GN'R above is unlikely to be entirely coincidental.

And discussing the band:

[...] the Replacements stuff that we did, I'm still proud of. It's all great, fine, good, all that -- but Paul [Westerberg] just wasn't a team player: He wrote the songs, and we played them.

It kept me from grand theft auto. That's the direction I was headed at the time, and I'd be in jail or dead by now, easily.

Most likely I'd be in jail right now [if I wasn't a musician]. Because when my brother taught me how to play bass, when I was like 11, prior to that, I'd gone to jail a couple of times for like stealing and that. The last time I went to jail before my brother taught me how to play bass, they wanted to send me away to a boys' reform school for about six months. They just thought I was going down that road. Next thing would've been grand theft auto, then I would've fucking...., murder, fucking rob a grocery store or whatever. I was just a fucking total hoodlum at a very young age, so he kinda saved me from that.



1992-1994: BASH & POP

I started writing songs early on in the Replacements. That was something I started running with pretty quickly. By the time the band broke up in ‘91, I had a whole record of stuff I was ready to work on. I had been in a bunch of little bands, playing drums and different stuff, but by the time the Replacements broke up I was ready to record and Warner Brothers released it. If only I had gotten a day job.


After The Replacements ended, Tommy travelled to Los Angeles in 1993:

In '93. When I first got out here, I'd go to clubs and stuff and I'd have these people come up to me and I'm still getting over the whole Mats fan crazy stuff and it was like people would walk up and approach me and I'd just kind of shake them, "What do you want? what are you doing to me?" And people would come up to me like, "Man, you fucking played the best show I ever saw in my whole life, man, you guys didn't play one of your own songs, it was great!" I'm just thinking, "Then you were fucking robbed and you don't even fucking know it," you know. But, you know, whatever man, they bought it.


He moved to LA to get some traction for his new record with his solo band Bash & Pop [In-Forum, January 18, 2005], and because of a love interest:

Well, my plan when I moved here was to kind of get more on the record company to try and help what my little cause was, which was the Bash & Pop record, because I knew that, you know, bands that break up, their solo records afterwards, you know, don't really have much of a chance as it is. So I thought, "Well from Minneapolis, I'm not going to cut this so well so I got to get out and kind of end it," and I had kind of fallen for another lady which was a part of the thing as well.


Talking about how it became a solo project:

That record was actually meant to be a band record, but what happened was the bass player [Kevin Foley] wasn’t up to snuff, and I hate to say that, because he’s dead now, but that’s what happened. I ended up playing all the bass on it. And the guitar player, Steve Brantseg, while being a great guitar player, really wasn’t able to — to no fault of his own — get in my head and hear where the songs were going guitar-wise, so it was easier for me to grab the guitar and come up with the parts I was hearing in my head, so he didn’t play on the record a whole lot.


Talking about the people involved on the album:

It came together as the sheer necessity of people around town. I kind of found the best that I could find in Minneapolis. It’s kind of why I also ended up moving to L.A. Part of the reason I moved to Minneapolis is that the best I could find that was really cutting it for me was (drummer) Steve (Foley). I wasn’t getting enough out of the other two guys (bassist Steve Brantseg and guitarist Kevin Foley) to really kind of keep it going so I upped and moved. I had to do it. I kept it going as long as I could out there, but really the lineup was just Steve and I. We made that record pretty much with the two of us, with other people coming in. My friend (Wire Train’s) Jeff Trott came in and played guitar, and there was other people from “the days.”


But Bash & Pop did not become a success [The Dallas Observer, May 21, 1998] and he only released one record, '93's 'Friday Night is Killing Me' [The Dallas Observer, May 21, 1998].

That record's raw. It's just me and my guitar and my guts basically, and you can hear that. It's crappy in a good way to me. Because I don't mind growing up in public. I've been doing it all my life: OK, here I am, my pants down to my ankles.


The Bash & Pop record was a failure and Tommy was released from the label:

And I kind of wanted it, you know, if I moved out here and kind of rode the company a little bit I might get somewhere with that. And what I found is that that wasn't going to happen. They were just... it was exactly as I thought, I made my record and instead of sticking it out and getting, you know, having them let me make another record that they do nothing with, I actually asked to be, you know, to get off the label and they let me go.

Like I said, when I moved to L.A., there wasn’t much of a lineup left to tour and keep the record going. The record wasn’t going, and by that time I had already begun playing with some other guys. I was still kind of calling it that, but when I started playing with them, it became Perfect. It just became clear it was a whole different thing happening.


Looking back at Bash & Pop:

Bash & Pop was interesting because it was my first foray into leading a band. Some things about that record didn't really work, but considering I did it 20 years ago, I'm still pretty proud of it. The problem I had right off the bat -- which I'm facing again -- was it's hard to start a band. It's hard to get the right gigs and get people paid. In Bash & Pop, that was all on me.

The Bash & Pop thing would have continued on had I not lost interest in the record company more than the band. It was pretty much my solo project, anyway. I had a couple of guys who played on the record, but most of the instrumentation was just me. But what ended up happening was that I moved out to L.A., and my drummer went back to Minneapolis.



TELEMARKETING

With Bash & Pop not going anywhere, Tommy took a job selling computer supplies over the phone [The Dallas Observer, May 21, 1998]:

For two months I felt like 'worm-boy.' But then I got kind of good at it. As hard as it was getting up at five in the morning to do that gig, it's the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. It made everything make a lot more sense. It was the first job I ever had. It did a lot for me and made me a lot stronger person.

I was great at it. Made more money than I ever had from music.

I went broke and had to learn how to support myself without music. I stopped writing music for a while.

Right around the time I turned 30, I thought about doing something else in addition to music, just because I’d been kind of spinning my wheels for a little bit. I actually did get a telemarketing job for a while, which was good. I had started to feel like I wasn’t making a true kind of music. I was relying so heavily on it to make my living that it started to get bastardized a little bit. Having a day job for a while got me back to going, “Wow, I can make money doing other shit and do what I like to do for the reasons I like doing it.” Suddenly, I started writing songs that I liked.

I went through a period more where I was writing for commerce rather than art. As soon as you do that, you’re fucked. No one’s ever done it well as far as I know, and the ones that have done it well are crap. I’ve been doing this for so long, I’ve always respected the critical element of what I’ve done and tried to maintain some credibility. I’ve sort of grown up that way, listening to music that was more credible and being involved in music that was more credible. Not to fucking pat my own back—because I’m the last to do that—but I just try to maintain that respect. I want to stay on that path of credibility. Not that I look at myself as some fucking hoity-toity artist, but I’d rather be on a path of artistic credibility than in a fleeting money pit.


Talking about what he was selling as a telemarketeer:

Toner. I was selling fucking ink cartridges and stuff. I was strapped for cash for a while, and I just decided, “Fuck it, I want to make some money, this is getting kind of stupid.” So I learned to sell toner over the phone to people who didn’t want any. The best thing about it was that I learned a whole lot about myself as far as wanting to get back to writing music that came from inside rather than music that went into someone’s back pocket. I also learned how to sell myself a little bit. With the Replacements, we never got to the point where we were confident and able to exude any strength—you know, where from a listener’s standpoint or a crowd standpoint, they’d go, “Wow, these guys are really on top of their game.” We instead fell apart in our game, which I guess is part of the fun of it all and the good part of it. It was good to get confidence in what I was doing and also be able to say, “I don’t fucking care about all of this extraneous, peripheral nonsense.” I like what I do and if I can get two people to buy it or if my daughter likes it, I’m stoked.

I sold toner cartridges over the phone, kind of a telemarketing thing.


And on whether he was good at selling toner:

I was. [Laughs] I got good at it really quick and, hence, made money so that I could go back to writing songs. Honest to god, the day I got good at selling toner, my entire life did a 180. It really was a pivotal moment, and I’ve been doing great since.

I got pretty good at it. It eventually transferred into my present-day life, being a salesman. [...] It was more of a way to cure myself and communicate, which was crucial. When the Replacements broke up, I was pretty skittish. People were pretty weird and treated me pretty crazy, you know kind of getting up in my face about shit. Kinda made me kinda an introvert. Fuckin' selling shit the telemarketing way kinda got me back out of my head and kinda got me back into being more of what I am, which is not an introvert, more of an extrovert. And to kinda, you know, be more of a communicator.


Tommy would work as a telemarketeer for about a year and a half [Willamette Week Online, August 25, 2004].


1996-1998: THE PERFECT

After almost leaving music for a career in telemarketing, he ended up founded the band 'Perfect' in 1996 [The Dallas Observer, May 21, 1998] which at first was another version of Bash & Pop [The Albany Times, August 21, 2003]. They were about to release their debut album, 'Seven Days a Week', on July 14 when Tommy joined Guns N' Roses [The Dallas Observer, May 21, 1998; LA Weekly, June 18, 1998]. They had also planned a tour with Franck Black [St. Cloud Times, April 30, 1998].

Talking about The Perfect:

I've been doing music since I was 11. What I grew up with, what I turned into, and where my inspirations come from haven't changed. I don't aspire to be a whole lot different from what I am.

I have more invested in the Perfect record than I did in the 'Mats, because I'm writing the songs. I can understand what Paul felt a lot now, freakin' out a lot of the time from having his soul on the line, and having it just come back as a piece of coal.

It turned into much more of a band thing [than Bash & Pop]. [Perfect] was closer to my vision of what I wanted to be doing at that time, rather than being a solo artist or anything like that.


Around this time, early 1998, Tommy would be back focusing 100 % on music again, adding revenues from solo shows [The Dallas Observer, May 21, 1998]:

I haven't been very good at it, but that's sorta why I keep doing it. Damn it, one day I'm going to be all right at it, and it'll be fine. It's a challenge. It's more about the words and emotion. That's a hard bit.


The Perfect would release an EP, When Squirrels Play Chicken, on the label Reckless in 1995 [The Albany Times Union, August 21, 2003].

After Tommy joining GN'R, both the Perfect album and their planned tour was postponed [St. Cloud Times, April 30, 1998]. In June it was reported that he struggled to get his label, Restless, to release the record [LA Weekly, June 18, 1998].

That’s just one of those fuckin’ things, and it happens to every other band in LA. We made a record, spent a lot of money doing it and it seemed like the record company was gonna man up and give it a real push. Then, at the last minute, everything fell apart.

Right about that time the GNR offer came up. And I just decided, ‘Fuck it. I’m gonna go play with a band for a while.’ And that’s what I’ve been doing for the last five years.

It really was kind of heartbreaking when it didn’t come out. But only at the time. It’s sort of par for the course in the music industry, there are a million different bands out there who get screwed like that.

That was frustrating, too, because just as we made our record, we were getting screwed by the record company. So that band bit the dust, too. [...] It's always frustrating when that happens. But you know, there are a million and one bands out there doing the same thing -- equally, if not more, talented. Everyone gets screwed at one time or another -- and in some cases, many times. But it's all part of the deal. It's what you sign up for when you play rock 'n' roll.

I think the label got cold feet on how to promote it, and rather than get screwed, I realized the GNR thing was more what I wanted to do — I’d gotten beaten up with record-company bullshit and I just wanted to play in a band and pull myself together.

It took me a little while to get back into writing after the last Perfect record (that was shelved in 1998) that is finally getting released. After that whole thing got screwed up, I kind of wanted to be in a band, and the Guns N’ Roses thing obviously came along at the right time.

We made the record for a pretty good hunk of money for Restless. When it came down to marketing and promoting it, they realized how much they were in already and got cold feet about having to put anything more into it. Their marketing and radio people were absolute morons. They had a good publicist and a couple of good people working there, but overall the people that were going to be getting it out were totally inept. I knew we were going to get screwed on it, so that’s when I started getting disheartened by the whole thing. I was doing a session with a friend of mine who told me that Guns N’ Roses needed a bass player, and I thought it would be cool to join a band for a while and not worry about this shit anymore.

When we got through mixing, the record company started getting cold feet about how they were going to promote it. Then the GNR thing came up, and some other things, and I knew they were about to shelve it and not do anything good by it. It was a bit of a bummer, and I didn't write anything for about a year after. . . .

That record was pretty rootsy; kind of rock and roll-ish. With the direction I was going after that, it was a whole other thing [than Bash & Pop].


In 2003, Restless Records was planning to release the record for 2004 [Detroit Metro Times, August 20, 2003] but later it was stated it would be the Salem-based label Rykodisc that would release the record [The Boston Phoenix, September 5, 2003]. It would be released in September 2004 [The Washington Post, February 4, 2005].

Between my own record coming out and the Perfect record's coming out, I'll probably not be able to promote much of that either. That was done about six, seven years ago. [...] They shelved it because they spent all this money to make it, then they didn't want to commit to spending any money to putting it out. Restless, a real shit label. That was right at the time when I was going, 'Ya know what? I've had enough of this shit. I'm going to go be in a band for a little while,' and I joined Guns. So now they're putting it out. Like they're trying to capitalize on the Guns record coming out and a little bit on my solo record coming out possibly.

Yeah, but it’s not called [Seven Days A Week] anymore. It’s called Once, Twice, Three Times A Maybe. It’s coming out on Ryko. As soon as we can come up with some artwork that’s suitable, we’ll put it out. We remixed it, took one song off it, and it’s coming out (this year).


Looking back at The Perfect:

In Perfect, it was more of a group effort [compared to Bash & Pop], but then that got to be hard, too. A lot of work and a lot of effort went into just getting screwed again.



PUFF DADDY AND ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS

Perfect was playing a show in New York, and this guy had seen us play and asked us if we wanted to do a remix with Puff Daddy. I thought he was joking! They sent us the track a couple of weeks later, and most of that track, ‘It’s All About the Benjamins,’ is us. Certainly the chorus is me and [Perfect’s] Marc Solomon singing.

Perfect was playing a show at the Intrepid, and one of his guys – Johnny Eaton for Big Daddy Records or whatever that record company of his was called — asked if we wanted to do a rock remix of “All About the Benjamins.” It had already sold a few million copies, but they wanted a rock remix. We listened to it — and it didn’t have a chorus. Everyone did a rock remix for it, but we were the only ones to add a chorus. We did it, and it sold another few million copies. We got hired and I got asked to be in the video.


Tommy's remix version of Puff Daddy's song would be featured on the 1997 release It's All About the Benjamins single. When recording the song in New York City, Richard Fortus would be called in as a session musician:

Oh man, you know, I used to do all the Puffy stuff, like back in the day. So like all like the Benjamins - that was a cool section, actually. And it's ironic because I went into that, and this is the rock All About the Benjamins track, right? So I go in, they have a demo from a band called Perfect and I was like, I knew that was Tommy Stinson's band because I was a big Replacements fan. "Oh, that's Tommy Stinson's new band." They did this demo for that and it was a killer track, like real sort of Sly and the Family Stone type vibe. And then Dave Grohl came in to play drums. [...] Tommy wasn't there. They just had a tape, a demo of that song, that his band had worked up for Puffy. And ironically Tommy and I a few years later end up becoming best friends and playing in a band together, but at that time I was just a fan. But Dave Grohl came in, and this is before Foo Fighters - well no, I guess Foo Fighters had started - but he came in and played drums and he blew me away. I thought he was just such a phenomenal and versatile drummer and totally killed that track.
 

Interestingly, in 1998, Slash would play this version live together with Puff Daddy (see previous chapter).

Talking about the song:

You know what? That was a fun experience. I wouldn't mind doing a lot more stuff like that. It was so much fun to take a rap song and write a chorus to it. The whole remix of that song that you hear at any basketball or football or any kind of game, that's my chorus. I love that.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:38 am; edited 28 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:41 pm

APRIL-DECEMBER 1998
WITH A FULL LINEUP AND PRODUCER STABILITY, THE BAND STARTS RECORDING

After Josh and Tommy joined the band all key positions had again been filled and the lineup was complete. It consisted of Axl, Tommy, Robin, Chris, Dizzy, Josh, and Paul. In addition, Billy Howerdel was involved. In early July it would be stated that the band had booked studio time for August [Muzic.com, July 10, 1998], likely at Rumbo Recorders where they had been rehearsing since January 1998. Later in the same month, it would be reported that the band was indeed recording [Stevens Point Journal, July 11, 1998; MTV News, July 28, 1998] with Tommy and Josh in the fold [Entertainment Weekly, July 31, 1988]. The plan was to release the record in 1999 [MTV News, July 28, 1998].

Tommy would later discuss the process:

I came in around ’98, when the band was still writing the record. It was Paul Tobias and Robin Finck on guitar, Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman on keys, Josh on drums, and me. Everybody was just slowly starting to bring in ideas. We were set up at Rumbo Records, a big studio out in the middle of nowhere. A funny thing – Captain & Tennille own it. The whole thing looks like a boat.

Anyway, we all just started hammering ideas out. Essentially, it was eight guys collaborating. To be thrown into that kind of environment – eight guys from very different walks of life – was very crazy. I’d never worked in that way, but it was cool. There were guys who’d never ever made a record putting out their ideas. At first, those of us who’d actually made records thought their ideas sucked, but there were also some good ones.

I came in sort of … in the middle of the record, but there was a lot to write and a lot to put together still. So I was pretty much involved in helping put all that stuff that you hear on Chinese Democracy together in one aspect or another.

The first year I was there [=1998], like, five nights a week. I'd drive from Long Beach up to the Valley, deep in the Valley, like at 9 at night, 10 at night, and work till, like, four or five, six, in the morning, you know, five nights a week for the first year, give or take a week or two if we'd have off.


Tommy was nicknamed the General because of his leading role in the writing process, and in 2017 and 2019 he would shed light on his role after he joined the band:

I wasn’t the musical director for Guns N’ Roses. What I became in the early stages of the new Guns N’ Roses, was I would try and organize a bit. You’ve got 6 guys, Axl too, I would just do my best to try and just keep us all on the same page. We had some different guitar players who were alternately either good friends of mine, or an absolute opposite of a friend, and a pain in the ass, who we dealt with, and I had to deal with.

I just did my best to try to make whatever situation that was in front of us work. I’ll be honest with you, I did my best with all of that, and it got to a point where there were too many moving parts. I kind of asked myself out of a position that I really never wanted anyway. In fun, I’ve been called the general and all of this stuff, but no, I never wanted to be the musical director, I never wanted to be the point guy.

But I was the point who was like, ‘let’s meet at 4, let’s do this. Hey, why don’t we work on this guitar and bass part together, and drums together? Let’s work this out.’ For the first part of me being in Guns N’ Roses, I had a lot more experience in some ways than some of the newer players had, so I did that. If I had been the musical director, I would have asked for a whole lot more money.

You know, it happened with that particular band just because someone needed to do that. And someone needed to do that and someone needed to, you know, kind of, like you said, corral the whole thing. I did it by just by, someone had to. And so I took the role. And I worked with it. And I can do that and I can, you know, lead a session. I can do a thing. I prefer to work with people that already know their shit. And, you know, when we first started playing together, I was in a room full of guys I normally wouldn't even been in a room with playing because we were all from vastly different backgrounds musically. And, again, like I had to kind of just, I just did my best to grab the bull by the horns and try and guide it to, you know, so it sounded good. The last thing you want to do is get in front of - you know, I think our first gig was, you know, playing Rock In Rio in front of, you know, 300,000 people - the last thing you want to do is get up there and suck. So it was leading up to that, that it was, you know, we had to really kind of hunker down, you know, and take it seriously. And we had three guitar players. And if you have any idea what it's like to play with three guitar players at once, you'll know somebody outside of the six string guitar realm has to run the show a little bit. The last thing you want is a guitar player running the show. [laughs] I'm kind of kidding. Just kind of kidding.


Being asked how they came to agreements on decisions:

We each had to give reasons for liking or disliking something – you couldn’t just be bull-headed. We had to function as a democracy or we’d end up hating each other. Collaborating was good for that. I think every one of us learned a lot from it.


And when it came to working out their own individual parts:

We were all left to our own devices to come up with individual instrument parts. The broader song ideas had to be hammered out.


Tommy would also mention how he got inspired by Duff's playing:

When I started hammering out those Guns N’ Roses songs, I started to really dig into what Duff was doing – I really liked the stuff he played. I’d be lying if I said his playing didn’t seep into my subconscious – like the way he uses grace notes. And I wouldn’t be afraid to say I stole some of his stuff.

I think, other than [Duff] being more riff oriented than I am, we’re not all that different players. We both kind of came from a punk-rock background, and it wasn’t all that much of a stretch. I did, however, tweak my sound a little bit so that it would fit sonically with what was going on. I didn’t really try to sound like Duff necessarily, but to make it sound as powerful as I could while still fitting in to what’s going on.



Tommy and Josh in the studio
Unknown date
Josh in the studio
Unknown date


An anonymous person from "Rose's camp" would state:

I think this news will put to rest any rumors that Axl has joined the witness protection program.


The recording caused some scheduling conflicts for the highly sought-after session drummer Josh:

As soon as I discovered the studio time would conflict with the Vandals tour. I told the other band members [of the Vandals] they should find a replacement. It was a hard decision, but I figured it would be better than canceling the tour altogether.


Despite rumors that the band intended to start recording in August, by early September it would be claimed the band hadn't done any recording yet, but was scheduled to go in later in the month [Muzic.com, September 3, 1998]. This means that the band had spent more than the first half of their time in the studio on recording ideas and working on songs.

Dave Dominguez would mention Axl singing Elton John songs while at Rumbo:

[Axl] would sit at the piano, and he had a mic set up, and it would come through the PA. And then he would just, yeah, he would sit and play. I remember playing a couple of Elton John things. He played a little Elton John and sing to that. Yeah, but it was always at the piano.


Before Dominguez left in August 1998, he had not recorded any vocals with Axl:

Not at all. Not at all. I don't think I recorded one original Axl vocal at all. I did record like him... vocal ideas, him on piano, but not a lot of vocals. In fact, I didn't hear him sing a lot. He would come in and maybe jam a couple songs. When they're doing the live Appetite, he would do some of that. Then when the band would leave, he'd have some vocal ideas of piano and he would do some of that. But I do remember the one thing, like I didn't realize how powerful his vocal was until... Like my whole thing was I had to be in the room when anybody was recording. And even if they weren't recording, if they were in the library sitting on a chair, I had to be there just in case they got an idea. So Axl called like, "Oh, let's take a break," and everybody walked out except for Axl. And he walked in the control room and he goes, "Is it's cool?" And I'm gonna go get... "Oh, yeah, I'm not gonna do anything." And so he must have changed his mind about 30 seconds later because I went to go shut off the lights [?] in the live room. Shut those off and I walk out and I'm walking down the hall and all I hear is, "Do you know where you are? You're in the jungle baby!" And it's him doing it full voice because they were gonna play that song when he came back. And I just remember goosebumps all over because he was 10 feet behind me when he did it. And it startled me and I was like, "Oh my God!" It's four o'clock in the morning and I think I woke up my ex-wife at the time going, "You're not gonna believe just what happened. You're not gonna believe it. It's like," and she, you know, she was a Guns fan too, but she wasn't like me and she didn't really care that I was like, "Oh my God, Axl Rose just did that behind me," and, "I heard him, like, he was 10 feet from me and he did it." And I was just like, I had like two cups of coffee, I was like, "Oh my God!" I was wide awake at that point. I was like, "That was awesome."


Sean Beavan, who came in as the produces in 1998 [see later chapter], would state that all the vocals were recorded with him [Produce Like A Pro, November 11, 2019], indicating that the recording of the vocals happened not long after Dominguez left the project. Beavan would also discuss recording Axl's vocals:

Axl is such a dynamic singer in emotional delivery but his voice is very pro, very controlled, the switch between his baritone and high screams doesn't jump more than 6db so it was pretty easy to control with a good compressor (LA2A), onto a comp or limiter (1176 or or UA 176) The Neve 1073 preamp wouldn't really blow over too bad while coming up with the parts. Most times we would record verses separately with one preamp gain setting and then we recorded screamy parts with their own setting.


In September 1998, the remixer/engineer Critter was said to be working with the band on recording and programming [Rolling Stone Magazine, September 18, 1998], and the band was said to be hoping for a mid-1999 release [Rolling Stone Magazine, September 18, 1998]. Critter was Sean Beavan's engineer and joined when Beavan joined in August 1998 [see later chapter]. With Critter coming in it meant that Dave Dominguez left the project.

Dominguez was not sad about having to leave the project:

Not at all. Not at all. Because it'd been like I told you, it'd been like they were going to rehearse for three months and record for three months and then the record would be out. I left it in August? I think we started on January 3rd. It was the first day, like the first day we actually got in the studio, they got there for setup. And I left in August. So eight months later, and nothing, nothing. It was like nothing had been written, nothing had been recorded, nothing. It was just like ideas.


This indicates that by August 1998, the band had been in Rumbo Recorders since January without finishing any songs or recording any vocals.

In October 1998, a spokesperson at Geffen Record would say that the band hoped to have a record out by 1999 [MTV News, October 21, 1998].

Although Guns N' Roses was quickly becoming less and less relevant to the music scene, Axl still had his fans:

I know Axl pretty well, which basically means I don’t understand him at all. I just don’t get it. Guns N’ Roses is the last great hope for hard rock. If they got back together and made a straight rock record, it would sell 15 million copies.

I mean I can't wait for him to make a record, and come back, and I think Axl is great. I know I'm very much of the minority, but I think Axl is great. I think he's gonna make a great record, whatever decade it ends up being, and, hum, you know, I'm counting on it.

I think I'm totally the minority, in that I think he's gonna pull it off. A lot of people think he's just really selfish and stuck-up, but he's also really smart. It's not gonna be a Guns N' Roses record, in what the rest of the world understands as a Guns N' Roses record.


In December it would be reported that the band had been working in the studio since July, but mostly been in pre-production [New York Daily News, December 17, 1998]. A spokesperson would say:

[Axl]’s only seriously now in the studio recording.


This could indicate that the band had now started to actually record songs, with Beavan as the producer.

The estimated release date was in the summer of 1999 [New York Daily News, December 17, 1998], but Ed Rosenblatt was not certain about the release date:

In 1998 and 1999 you start getting a little bit nervous. Edgar Bronfman [CEO of Seagram] picks up the phone more than once. He wanted to know what was going on. You unfortunately have got to give him the answer, you don’t know. Because you don’t.


In 2019, Doug Goldstein would be asked when they started recording and suggest 1997:

I'd have to look back at notes and I don't really remember when the recording started. I just remember that, you know, it was a 10-year process when I left, I think. So it would have started really in '94, you know, cause I kept being... No, I'm sorry. No, no, I take it back. No more like seven years when I left. So '97 would have been when it started.


It is possible Goldstein was correct, but any recordings in 1997 must have taken place elsewhere, possible at the Complex or Axl's home, because recording at Rumbo doesn't seem to have started before the second half of 1998 with Beavan's entry. By all accounts, Beavan seems to have been a good match for Axl and provided some stability after Clink and Youth, and it is also important to note that the lineup was first completed in April 1998 with Tommy's entry into the band.


"THE RECORD JUST [NEEDS] A LEAD VOCAL AND A MIX"

In 2005, James Barber, an A&R rep at Geffen, would talk about being involved with the band in 1997-1998:

Nothing else had worked, so Geffen figured they’d send me in to talk to Axl after I moved to Los Angeles. We desperately wanted the new album for Christmas 1998 and I had a year to get it finished. Whenever anyone asks me about GNR, I think about Rutger Hauer’s line in Blade Runner: ‘I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.’

No expense was spared; they were the biggest band in the history of the label and, even though everyone except Axl was gone, Geffen Records lived and breathed for another GNR album.

The Robin Finck/Josh Freese/Tommy Stinson/Billy Howerdel/Dizzy Reed version of the album that existed in 1998 was pretty incredible. It still sounded like GNR but there were elements of Zeppelin, Nine Inch Nails and Pink Floyd mixed in. If Axl had recorded vocals, it would have been an absolutely contemporary record in 1999.

People close to the project have since told me that I don’t know what I’m talking about, that the current version of the record in no way resembles what I heard in early 1999. That’s too bad.


And mention that all that was needed were lead vocals and a mix:

Seven years ago, the record just needed a lead vocal and a mix. The last time I was at the studio was two days before my daughter was born. Last night she read all of ‘Hop on Pop’ to me. Some mysteries passeth all understanding.


Dominguez would also talk about some of the songs they worked on while he was working with the band (so between January and August 1998).

Oklahoma was one of them:

"Oklahoma" was pretty much written by the time they got to the studio [=in 1998] Axl wrote that with inspiration from the Oklahoma City bombing (more as a tribute to those who died if I'm not mistaken)


Another song was Ides of March:

Most of the songs had working titles but I know that "Oklahoma" and "Ides of March" were songs that were almost complete.
Sp1at from unknown date but before February 2004; mentioned on htgth.com

"Ides of March" was a working title of one of the songs that came from a loop name that Dizzy came up with I think they kept the name but it's been years so I'm sure everything has changed by now.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Fri Oct 04, 2024 10:44 am; edited 23 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:41 pm

MAY 1, 1998
THE RECORDING AGREEMENT IS AMENDED
AND AXL RECEIVES AN ADVANCE TO FINISH CHINESE DEMOCRACY

On May 1, 1998, the recording agreement of September 1, 1992, between Axl, Slash and Duff, and Geffen Records, was amended to confirm Slash and Duff's departure from the agreement, resulting in the agreement now being between Axl and the label only [Legal document, March 15, 2004]. This means that Slash and Duff would be relieved from any "charges against their royalty accounts for the enormous recording costs and other expenses being incurred by Axl Rose (the only 'Remaining Member' of Guns N' Roses) in connection with the recording of the new Guns N' Roses studio album" [Legal document, March 15, 2004]. In other words, Slash and Duff would not have their royalties reduced due to the costs of making Chinese Democracy.

In the other agreement signed May 1, 1998, Axl promised to finish Chinese Democracy before March 1, 1999, and would in return receive a "substantial advance" from Geffen [Legal document, March 15, 2004]. This advance was $1 million and if Axl finished the album by March 1, 1999, he would receive another $1 million [The New York Times, March 6, 2005]. Youth, one of the band's producer at the time, would also receive a bonus if the album was finished by this date [The New York Times, March 6, 2005].


Last edited by Soulmonster on Wed Apr 10, 2024 8:54 am; edited 11 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:41 pm

EARLY 1998
CHRIS PITMAN JOINS THE BAND

On December 20, 1999, on the band Lusk's internet blog, it would be stated that Chris Pitman was now "working for Axl Rose, doing engineering/writing work on the new GUNS 'N ROSES album" [Lusk Blog; December 20, 1999].

I was introduced to them through Billy Howerdel who was... he worked for Tool for a while.


Howerdel had stopped working for Guns N' Roses by May 2000; this, combined with the update on the Lusk Blog, would suggest that Chris joined the Guns N' Roses in late 1999, although it could have been earlier.

But [Howerdel] turned Axl on to the Lusk record and Axl was way into, you know, the guitar sounds and orchestration that we did and he invited me down to hang out. And, you know, the first night I met Axl, I didn't know anything about the band too much, besides their big hits they had on the radio. And when I met him he was just too sick [?], a really cool guy, he was so warm and we just had a blast hanging out, and he was playing just tons of tapes and stuff.


Chris would later talk about bonding with Axl over both coming from the mid-West:

When we first met, he didn’t know I was from Kansas City. And when I said it, we had something in common because we were from the mid-West. It was almost like we were long lost brothers because of that fact – we had that bond and that connection. And then, in both our cases, something happened and we both ended up out here in Los Angeles. It’s a great melting pot for musicians, as I’m sure you know.


Chris would spend time with Axl at Axl's home studio, working on music for about three years:

And [Axl] eventually invited me up to this house, like a guest house, you know, it was made into a studio and we wrote music there for like three years. Just me and him. It was a great, neutral zone without people, you know, bugging you. And a lot of great stuff came out of there. And he's he's just enormously talented.



MOTHER GOOSE

Like other guys associated with Buckethead, Chris would be given a nickname and his, "Mother Goose", came from the Phillip Dick book Valis:

You know, it's funny, I haven't heard that in quite a while because when Buckethead came into the band... of course everyone associated with Buckethead has a nickname, you know, there's Brain, there's, you know, Throat Rake and there's [?] people like that so basically the Mother Goose came from, like, a Philip Dick book called VALIS, if any of you've read that, it was just kind of, you know, just one of those funny nicknames but it kind of came and went real quick. I only hear it from people, you know, associated back then when Bucket was playing with us and it's kind of funny to hear now.

That was a nickname I acquired sometime when Buckethead was in GNR, all his friends had great nicknames, and that name came up for me. I seldom hear it anymore, or I only hear it when I'm around people associated with that era and it always makes me laugh and remember some good times.

I mean, Mother Goose was how I first heard his name, you know, it's like Buckets said, "Hey, there's this guy Mother Goose that's pretty rad," you know, "he's kind of like a synthesis type guy and there's all this crazy shit," and, you know, "I really like him and he's the one I'm going up to Axl's house with." So, I guess, you know, he was there since for a long time.



OFFICIAL ROLE

In 2007, Richard would be asked if Chris was an official member of the band:



In 2012, Dizzy would talk about how Chris ended up being a band member and suggest it was a natural progression from Chris having worked extensively with the band:

I don’t think there was ever a situation where we said that we needed another keyboard player so let’s try out guys and hold some auditions. Chris had been around for the creative process and he added what he added to the music and it didn’t feel right going out without him there. Because he is who he is and I am who I am, that’s why we have two keyboard players in the band. My place was never threatened.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:36 am; edited 11 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:42 pm

CHRIS BEFORE GUNS N' ROSES

1993-1994: TOOL

[...] me and Danny [Carey] both comes from Kansas City and we played in numerous bands there, and he took off to Los Angeles and he finally talked me into coming out there and I was finishing up Arts School and he basically saved my life and got me out of the Midwest. And he was just taking off in a band called Tool back then and when I got there. They had the band going and, you know, they were amazing. Just a great band. And when you heard them in their rehearsal space it was just super powerful. It was intense. And I just said, "Hey, if I can help you out in any ways, just let me know." They put me on as basically just mixing them, being the sound guy or, you know, whatever we could do. And at the same time, me and Danny and Marko were doing Zaum and they were setting up a tour and they thought, "Well, we'll do a tour and you can come out and do the sound for us.

Yeah, early stuff. '93 or '94. I can't remember which record. And then we went out and toured, we did America, Europe, and stuff, and then, you know, they were starting to take off and it was cool because... and I don't know if they still do it these days, but in Europe you'd go and play these radio stations live and you just set up and go for it, you know, no edits. And it was fun kind of producing them doing these live shows and we also did the John Peel [?] show for the BBC that was like that. And I think that was the only time I actually really recorded them. And that was great. That was a really fun time with those guys.



1995-1996: ZAUM

[Marko Fox]'s another, you know, kind of this continuous chorus of friends that we have in Los Angeles. And you know, when you hang with guys that you really like, that's all you can do. You know, you jam a lot together, drink beer and just have fun because, you know, [?]. And Marko played with... in a band called Zaum with me and Danny Carey which... that was a real kind of improvised, jungely-type of band with the same kind of polyrhythms Tool took off to do, as well. And Marko is just a super solid bass player. He just lays it down. He's incredible. And a great dude on top of that.



1995-1996: THE REPLICANTS

With The Replicants, Chris released an album (self-titled) in 1995.

But we called it Replicants because it was cover songs. And, you know, it's kind of a.... we'd go over to Failure studio, they were recording, I think, Fantastic Planet [ed note: released in August 1996], and me and Paul [D'Amour, from Tool] would just show up and jam with them at nights. And we would do Syd Barret songs, Bowie, you know, all the crazy stuff and having fun. And Ken was testing out recording gear so we'd do demos and we eventually met Marshall from Zoo Records. He just heard us and, "I've got to put this out," and that was great. But, you know, we were kind of just limited to do cover songs so that's how Replicants came up.

[...] you know you don't realize that when you're playing cover songs because you just trying to make it... put your own vibe to it. And it's kind of easy to discount doing a cover record, but I heard it years later, I kind of forgot I did it for many years, and I heard it and it's like, "Wow, this is really cool." Because it seems like jazz music where they are playing standards so you don't think about composition, you know, you're not judging them, "Oh, that song sucks." They're just great songs anyways. And then you can see what these people did to the song. We did that amazingly fast. Really fast. And it was so much fun to do.


Maynard James Kennan, from A Perfect Circle, would contribute to one song on the Replicants' album:

He did Silly Love Songs by Paul McCartney. It's classic because if you listen to the very beginning of that song, you hear him going, he says something to Mark like, "Do you have it yet?" or something like that, and you hear this water in the background and that's actually him pissing, because he's singing in the toilet. "Hey, you got that?" And we put that on the record. You got to have humor going.


The Replicants' album was recorded in Alley Studio in Los Angeles:

It's so amazing. You know, unfortunately, most Los Angeles studios are gone now because the record industry has been disassembled by Mr. iPod. But, that one, I'm sure it's still there, but that's where [?], Crosby, Stills & Nash, CoCo, Little Feet, every band in the world... The Chili Peppers are always there, still. And, you know, the 70s bands and Fleetwood Mac. And when we first got in there our intention was trying to be a space rock band. You know, we were just going to be... kind of like [?], some kind of, like, space rock. And by just being in there, the wooden walls and all the coasters and nostalgia, and we suddenly kind of got into the vibe and was listening to some of those records, and we noticed that, you know, back then melody was the form of the music. And a lot of rock music now is based around the rhythm, just real heavy rhythm and then it comes along with it. And then we said, "Okay, let's work as melodies as a form and the drummers more like a timekeeper, Ringo-esque vibe. So that forced us to work differently. Also at the same time, they put out the Beatles Anthology records and a lot of those are John Lennon sitting at a mellotron just improvising the song. And that spirit is incredible. Have you heard those? [...] He does, like, I am the Walrus and he's just sitting there and , you know, he's messing up notes but, it's just that spirit, that spontaneity of that moment. And it's warts and all. And that's kind of what we inspired to do. Just first takes, keep that kind of loose vibe. And I think that's why today it's so fun to listen to for me.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:36 am; edited 37 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:43 pm

SOMETIME JANUARY-JULY 1998
THIS I LOVE IS CONSIDERED FOR THE SOUNDTRACK TO WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

In 2005, studio engineer Dave Dominguez would reveal that the song This I Love had been considered to be included on the soundtrack of the movie What Dreams May Come which came out in early October 1998 [sp1at, February 14, 2005].

Talking about the song:

[This I Love] was definitely a love song...very heartfelt, it would have fit perfectly with 'What Dreams May Come'.


In 2019, Dominguez would describe what had happened in more detail:

Mike Clink called me and said, “Hey, the producers for this Robin Williams movie are coming down at some point and they want Guns to record a song for it, a song called This I Love. But we gotta find the tapes. I was like, “Okay,” because I guess they had written it and recorded it during the Illusions tour. Because I don’t know if you knew this, [...] Illusions wasn’t finished when they hit that tour, so Mike would fly with them and they would finish it up in different cities. So I remember getting four tapes, one from Australia, one was in England, the other was, like, somewhere in Wisconsin...

So they’d come in and they were from different parts. So when they finally got there, Axl – that was Axl who was really involved with that – said, “Hey,” he called me up. “Hey, don’t you come in?” “Yeah.” So he came in and goes, “This is what I’m looking for.” And I found the... because then there’s always a master tape, which has usually drums, rhythm guitars, bass and a scratch vocal; and then the rest are slaves, which have different parts. So they had, like, three different slaves. He was like, “There’s a certain part of the song that I want, that I really like, so you gotta find the right tape”. So I put it up and he was like, “Yeah, that’s it.” And it was a beautiful song. I guess it ended up on Democracy, but just the title. It’s a whole different song. [...] I remember I listened to it - I haven’t listened to Democracy in quite a while, but I go, “Oh, this isn’t the exact...” Because that was a piano ballad. [...] It was a ballad, it was a really cool song. So a guy, Kenny (?), who I mentioned earlier, who was a runner at the time, had become, like, my assistant during that, he would come in and he’d help me out.

I’m sure you’ve heard the famous Axl stories about him just being out of control and being, you know, rude, just yelling... Well, I never really got any of that, personally. He always treated me great, and he treated my family great, and he was always awesome. The only time he ever did really get upset with me was during that session. At the end of that song, This I Love, he was repeating the... oh what was his girlfriend? Stephanie Seymour. It was like “I love you, Stephanie” or “This I love, Stephanie.” He was, like, whispering it at the end of the song. And he heard it and he goes, “Just erase all that.” I was like, “Do you want me to back it up?” “No, erase it!” And he yelled and walked out of the room. So Kenny there, the assistant, and I said, “We’re gonna erase something GNR fans are never ever gonna hear. Like, they’re never gonna hear this.” That to me was like, “Wow, this is crazy. This is a GNR song that no one’s ever heard and no one is ever gonna hear this again.” I looked at him, “Are you ready?” And I put the tracks in the recorder and I erased it. [...]

It was pretty intense. That was the first time he got upset - I think the only time he ever got upset with me. And I was like - because I didn’t know. I was like, “Do you wanna back it up, just in case?” You know, I was gonna lock it to the A-DAT and back it up, so anybody could put it back. And he was like, “No.” I go, “Alright...” And I just remember, like, that was the only time I had butterflies on my stomach. I didn’t wanna erase the wrong thing. So he left the room, and I said, “I need ten minutes.” I would’ve probably only needed two minutes to do it, but I wanted to verify I was erasing the right thing. It was like, I did triple-quadruple checking, like, “this is it, here we go.” Yeah, that was pretty crazy.


And talking about where in the movie the song was supposed to be played:

Yeah, in fact I saw that after, when it came out, because I was just interested in seeing what it was about. Because we had a VHS tape that had the scene where they wanted the song. [...] I just remember like Robin Williams being on a boat that was floating like down a colored river. I'd have to watch the movie again. [...] that's where I remember that kind of vibe where like he's going somewhere on a painted river. It was really strange. But that was a scene that we'd watch and Axl would sit and kind of like, "Oh, I don't know." He was trying to maybe rearrange lyrics or rearrange a song and it just didn't happen.


Dawn Soler, musical supervisor for What Dreams May Come, would state to Sp1at that Axl was "really into the film" but that the director of the movie, Vincent Ward, decided against its inclusion on the soundtrack [Blabbermouth, February 21, 2005]. Dominguez, on the other hand, would suggest Axl didn't want to do it, possibly after seeing the scene where it was intended to be included:

[...] it just fell through. Axl didn't want to do the song after all, I don't know why, but he decided that, yeah, he didn't want to do it. And that was it. And when Axl didn't want to do something, he didn't do it.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 2:57 pm; edited 19 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:43 pm

AUGUST 1998-1999
SEAN BEAVAN BECOMES THE NEW PRODUCER

Then, in the second half of 1998, it was reported that Sean Beavan was discussing with the band to be the new producer [Rolling Stone Magazine, September 18, 1998]. According to insiders, Beavan and Axl had agreed in principle, but details and contracts had yet to be worked out [Rolling Stone Magazine, September 18, 1998]. By November the pair was allegedly working together in the studio, although Beavans's manager, Shannon O'Shea, would not confirm Beavan's involvement at the time [Rolling Stone, November 14, 1998]:

[Beavan is] up for several things right now. Guns n' Roses may or may not be one of them.


Dave Dominguez left the project in August when Beavan came in with his own engineer, Jeff "Critter" Newell:

And so when they finally got Sean [Beavan], Sean had his own engineer [=Critter] already. So once they got there, I was there for like two days just to give them the low down, like, "This is where this is, obviously you change anything you want, but this is how this is set up." And this is the vibe of how it's been going. And then I was out. [...] And I left in August.


This put the starting for Beavan to August 1998.

Throughout 1999 it would be clear from numerous media reports that Beavan and engineer Critter were selected for the project and in 2000, Goldstein would confirm Beavan's prominent producer role:

[Beavan has] been the only producer. The others were people we met with or tried out on some tracks [with].


Beavan's involvement in the project seem to have ended in 1999:

We are still friends, but I haven't been up to his place since 1999.


This comment from Beavan also implies that as the producer, Beavan had worked more with Axl at his own home than at Rumbo Recorders where the rest of the band worked. This is also implied by Dominguez who mentioned that Mike Clink did not spend much time at Rumbo [see earlier chapter].

Although in a later quite [see below], Beavan would menton that his involvement with the band lasted from 1998 to 2000.

Later, Beavan would recount how it was working with Axl, and emphasize his humor:

Axl is a very thoughtful and loyal guy. He's also really funny. A great joke and story teller. It's been a long time since I was involved, but I'm sure Axl has a few tricks up his sleeve. We'll have to wait and see.

It was a blast working with Axl. He was a really funny guy. That’s probably the one thing that surprised me the most- just how funny the guy could be. When he’d come in to do vocals, he’d warm up for like forty-five minutes not by singing, but by telling jokes. He was just extremely funny and super nice.

[Axl] was really cool. I was there for two years and did 35 songs, haha. I was approached by Billy Howerdel from A Perfect Circle. He was doing some programming there with Axl and running one of the computers for it. Robin Finck was playing lead guitar and so the two of 'em kind of approached me to come in and help out and do some production for it. I brought in my friend Critter the engineer who had started engineering for them. Around that time, Chris Vrenna but Josh Freese started there who was a friend of mine. [...] It was fun. I knew lots of people there and they knew me. Axl was really, really interested in working with me and doing some stuff together, which was really fun. Axl and I are the same age so we get along really well. We have similar influences.

Axl is an incredible talent obviously. He was the only singer I've ever worked with where he came in and in order to warm up, he'd do a 45-minute stand-up routine, hahaha. The dude is amazing. Any joke he hears, he remembers perfectly and he's got a great delivery. He would just get in the vocal booth and then just start killin' it with jokes.


Beavan also bonded with Tommy:

Then I got to become really, really, really good friends with Tommy Stinson who was playing bass. Tommy and I have become really, really close and he's part of my first LA family and made me feel good being here.


And when asked about the highlights of his career he would among other mention this:

- the 45 minute stand up sessions with Axl as he warmed up to sing. My sides would ache!


Beavan would look back at his work with the band:

[...] that was a long time ago. It was between ’98 and 2000, I think. Tommy Stinson and I became good friends, and we see each other quite a bit, so he gives me updates here and there. I have no idea what’s going on now. Almost everybody involved with the project when I was working on it isn’t a part of it anymore. It was Josh Freese on drums, Tommy was playing bass… Dizzy was playing keyboards, and I think he’s still doing that.

I fell in love with L.A. Everywhere you go, it feels alive. Here, even when people fail, they fail going for it. Between '98 and 2000, I worked on 'Chinese Democracy'. It was fun, but also crazy, with totally insane hours. Axl [Rose] is a very nice guy, but he has a nebulous awareness of time. I'd be there super late at night, just waiting to see if he's going to come in at 2 a.m. or maybe 4 a.m.
Unknown source


And say he had thought the album would come out while he was working with the band:

I thought there was. (laughs) I think we worked on thirty-five songs or something. But the guy just continually creates, and as people changed into and out of the band, a lot of things got re-tracked. I’d love to see the record come out soon, but we’ll see. They say it was turned in.


In 2017, Tommy would discuss the reasons things had taken so long and mention that Beavan had been a very good match to Axl:

There were a lot of variables with the record company. [Interscope chief] Jimmy Iovine really mucked up the works quite a bit in some ways. There’s a certain thing you have to have when you work with Axl, and I don’t think we ever had the right guy. [Producer] Sean Beavan was the closest, and most of the songs on that record pretty much started and ended up with what he did.


In 2019, Beavan would again talk about having worked with the band, that he recorded all the vocals that ended up on Chinese Democracy, and that he thought someone older would have more effect on pushing Axl to release what he had:

The never-ending Guns N’ Roses record. I did that for... two years or something like that? And it’s funny, because I was on it from ’98 to 2000, I think, and the vocal tracks on it are all the ones I did. Like, it was pretty crazy- [...] [Axl] was unbelievably wonderful. [...] The credits were... I was reading them going like, “Oh my God!” [...] [The credits were] so nice. I mean, Axl is a great guy as far as, like, loyalty to people and stuff. I really, really liked Ax. I think part of our problem together was that he and I are the same age, and I thought he needed an elder statesman to kind of kick him into it, you know what I mean? Because, you know, I thought he was just gonna want to do this record forever and it’s like, “You gotta put something out now,” you know? Too much talent to not give it to the world, you know?


Last edited by Soulmonster on Fri Oct 04, 2024 10:37 am; edited 20 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:44 pm

OCTOBER 27, 1998
WELCOME TO THE VIDEOS IS RELEASED

On October 27, 1998, Geffen Home Video would release a 70-minute compilation of music videos from Guns N' Roses [Press release, October 19, 1998]. The video would contain the following 13 music videos: "Welcome to the Jungle," "November Rain," "Estranged," "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Paradise City," "Patience," "Don't Cry," "Live and Let Die," "Yesterdays," "Garden of Eden," "The Garden," "Dead Horse," and "Since I Don't Have You".



Welcome to the Videos
October 27, 1998



In October 2003, a DVD version of Welcome to the Videos would be released [Press Release, October 15, 2003].


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:33 am; edited 26 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:45 pm

DECEMBER 10, 1998
GEFFEN RECORDS IS MERGED WITH INTERCSOPE

On December 10, 1998, Seagram acquired Polygram from Phillips and in the process merged Universal Music Group (from Seagram) with Polygram's music holdings [The New York Times, December 21, 1998]. Geffen Records, who had been underperforming for some time [Los Angeles Times, May 31, 1997] were part of Universal music group and now became part of Interscope [The New York Times, December 21, 1998]. As a result of the restructuring, Seagram's management pledged to cut costs and save $300 million annually and it was expected that two-thirds of the rosters at each label will be dropped outright [The New York Times, December 21, 1998].

In the end, 110 Geffen employees, including Ed Rosenblatt, were fired [The New York Times, March 6, 2005]. Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope, would now be tasked with getting Chinese Democracy out [The New York Times, March 6, 2005]. According to The New York Times, Axl was "crushed by the departure of his Geffen contacts [The New York Times, March 6, 2005].

James Barber, Geffen A&R and producer, would later discuss how the transaction affected Geffen:

I should make something very clear: Seagram closed Geffen Records in January 1999. All of the artists and a handful of the staff were moved over to Interscope. The ‘Geffen’ label that exists today is basically the old MCA Records with a new logo. There’s almost zero connection to the company that I worked at in the 90s.

What happened to Geffen? Seagram tried to impose corporate values on a culture that thrived on extreme personalities and near anarchy. The A&R staff that built the company was dismantled and those of us left behind were expected to focus more on corporate protocol than making great records.

The record business is a lousy business if you’re looking for a predictable return on investment. All the corporations that bought into music in the 90s failed to understand that great music was the primary reward for running a record company. Sure you could make a ton of money, but the money was sort of a side effect. Once the people running Geffen had to concentrate on spreadsheets and business plans instead of making the next ‘Paradise City’ or ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ the company was doomed.

Jimmy Iovine totally mystifies me. He’s been able to transcend all of the corporate bullshit and just keep being Jimmy. I don’t like all the records he makes or how he treats a lot of his artists, but he’s the last man standing, the only person who gets to make records exactly the way he wants in a corporate environment.


This merger meant that Slash's second Snakepit album would be released on Interscope, a change he felt a bit disconcerting:

You sort of just roll with it and deal with it as realistically as possible, and maintain your own personal integrity as far as your music and the decisions you make. You hope you're smart enough to play the game your way and still work within the confines of the industry. […]

I'm going to miss a lot of the Geffen people because that's family. That's the only thing I regret about it.


Later, Axl would complain about not getting as much support from his record company as he wanted:

No, I'm not skeptical about, like “if” [the record comes out]. I'm just saying the “when” thing is when we decide that it's completed. There's a lot of things that - we come up with new ideas that we're working on as we go, and it is a really, really slow process, because it's kind of left more to ourselves in trying to figure it out; where, you know, what I've seen in this industry is that, if a record company… I don't know. There seems to be a lot more support for getting things done with newer bands, and it's got a lot to do with contracts being, you know, they don't have to spend as much money on the band and they're trying to get it out there, and the next thing you know, they've sold a couple of albums and then they don't care about that band anymore and they move on, and that band falls apart. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of support for bands that have been around. That's my experience. So in putting this thing together, in a lot of ways I've had to do way more jobs in it than I'm supposed to — I've had to be manager, A&R man, producer, sole lyric writer and a lot of things; where Guns N’ Roses to me, what I worked really hard at was making it a collaborative effort, and it was a lot of people involved. This is a collaborative effort with the players, but the players aren't exactly sure what it should be to try to win over the world Guns N’ Roses style. So that's kind of my responsibility. Anyway, but it's all working.


He would follow up this criticism in 2009, after the release of the record:

Unfortunately I have no information for me to believe [that] there was any real involvement or effort from Interscope. I'm not saying there wasn't. But in my opinion, without [Interscope Geffen A&M chairman] Jimmy Iovine's involvement, it doesn't matter who anyone talks to or what they say -- virtually nothing will happen from their end.

I do know [that] I've been asking for a marketing plan for over five years and still haven't got anything. We've asked for a complete breakdown of promotion expenses and efforts from all parties but unfortunately I've received very little information, if anything, so far. On another note, the draft booklet leaking and, I believe, the early shipping of preorders and the inclusion of the early draft booklet for the release was through involvement with Interscope, which was a mess. That's not to say they don't work for other artists and make things happen. I feel they work very hard for whatever it is they truly want to sell, whether it's good or ...

I can say how the band feels, and that is that to a man they hate the record company other than Universal International with a passion. And that's with me talking with them about the record company negatively hardly ever, if at all. They're not blind: They hear the talk and see the results. Our involvement with Interscope has been more than frustrating for them. It's not like anyone here wants to have any negative views, impressions or opinions. They don't go around bitching about things all the time and they don't let it get in the way of whatever they're supposed to do here, but it is what it is.

Here's how things worked until they were no longer involved-that is, until recently. Jimmy [Iovine] and whoever would come down to the studio. Things would be good for a month. Then, according to whoever was involved at the time from their side, someone above Jimmy would start putting pressure regarding us on him, Jimmy would start pressuring others at his label [and they] would begin doing the same with us. We get that it's just how business -- and perhaps especially this business -- tends to work, but after a month of this the whole thing would get ugly and extensively interfere with getting anything productive done, and near the middle of the third month we'd arrange for Jimmy to come down again. They'd go away happy and the entire process would repeat itself over and over and over.

[Former Interscope Geffen A&M president] Tom Whalley brought in Roy Thomas Baker to produce and [A&R executive] Mark Williams suggested Marco Beltrami, among others, to play strings on the album. And Jimmy had an idea for low guitar in a track and the EQ on a drum part. That's it as far as I'm aware. They were all good things, but in all sincerity, that's it. Now, what efforts were made to help keep Universal or Vivendi off us for as long as possible could very well have been extensive, and in that regard either would have been or would be most appreciated. I like Jimmy, but I've never understood him in regard to us or this album. Everything's always been, "That's easy," or "We can fix that, no problem," but unfortunately rarely added up to any kind of reality for us until [he found] Bob Ludwig for mastering.

We'd love to have their and Jimmy's support after this. But to continue at this juncture feeling as we do, keeping things so behind the scenes, unfortunately feels like the same 'ol same 'ol for all of us and, at least momentarily, a bit much to digest. Jimmy did point us in the right direction for mastering, and I believe he's sincere in his appreciation of our record but still for whatever reasons gave up pretty early in those areas.

We feel that, unfortunately, we've never been really anything all that much more other than a throw it at the wall, see if it sticks, no real ground work, something to take advantage of, last quarter, cook the books, write-off, fuck this headache, hoping to get lucky scam. And, unfortunately, for all their nice words and assurances, nothing that's happened since the week or so before the release has shown us much of anything to the contrary. So at least in regard to the U.S., for the most part I don't look at it like we have a record company -- I look at it for the most part like we have friendly but otherwise cutthroat loan sharks, and we were lucky to get what we got but feel we could have done more if they were at least, especially with some of their backgrounds, a bit more involved creatively. So in light of pirating and the mess the major labels are in, I have no sympathy for the record companies, based on our experiences in the U.S.


Tommy would also mention this when asked why it took so long to get Chinese Democracy released:

I think the main thing is, we just didn't have a lot of help doing it. Geffen merged with Interscope; that definitely changed what was going down with the record. For whatever reason, because of the merger, it seems to me that that was the point when things slowed way, way, way down.

[...]

They kind of left [Axl] to his own device. That's kind of the bad part about that. The record could have used a lot more help than we had. Certainly a lot more support and interaction might have been good.

I think everything changed when Geffen merged with Interscope. When that happened, Axl was told that [A&R executive] Jimmy Iovine would play more of a role in making the album happen. What Jimmy did instead was throw other people into the mix who weren’t very capable.

There were a lot of variables with the record company. [Interscope chief] Jimmy Iovine really mucked up the works quite a bit in some ways. There’s a certain thing you have to have when you work with Axl, and I don’t think we ever had the right guy. [Producer] Sean Beavan was the closest, and most of the songs on that record pretty much started and ended up with what he did.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:33 am; edited 3 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:45 pm

JANUARY 1999
SLASH, DUFF AND MATT PLAY TOGETHER AT THE SLAMDANCE FESTIVAL

In January 1999, Slash would reunite with Duff and Matt for a club gig at the Slamdance film festival [Sonic Net, February 1, 1999]. The show would include several Matt compositions from the Slamdance film, "Soundman", as well as covers of the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan [Sonic Net, February 1, 1999].

Before we left, people were saying... it's on the Internet, it's in 'Variety' that Guns is back together to play.



And that's just like so far away from anything that's true. We're just here to play. It's not that big of a deal, but we play good together.

[Slam dance was very] fun. Matt worked on the soundtrack for a movie and he arranged all the songs and musicians. I sang a song and Slash played guitar. I don't know if you've seen the movie, it's a low-budget, independent movie that was accepted in Sundance Festival. So we went and played at the movie party. It was just us letting loose, playing and having fun.


When asked why they didn't just make a new band, Duff responded:

I believe this will happen. And I think that would be fabulous. We’re very close friends as well as with Izzy. We’re in daily contact. Slash, Matt and myself played at the Slamdance Film Festival [in Park City, Utah]. You can’t create a good feeling between three or four people. It has to be already there. And when we played together, not only was there the feeling, but also a big energy. Those who attended that show probably remember it cause it was really powerful. We felt so good on-stage that the music just seemed to flow. It was one of those magic nights....


Being asked whether it isn't "unfair to play this semi-Guns concert, given that the band’s not complete":

We play together very often and what would be unfair would be to ask us to stop doing it. It would be like forbidding a kid to go play outside with his friends or telling him, if his parents were divorced, that he had to stop seeing one of them. But I think that, if we don’t want to form a band right now, it’s because we want to get away from that Guns image. We’d like to prove to ourselves that we are musicians.


Then in the end of January, Duff was scheduled to play at the Whisky in Los Angeles together with Gilby, Tracii and Teddy (Zig Zag) Andreas [MTV News, January 29, 1999].

Also in early 1999, Slash would again talk about his work with other ex-GN'R members:

I'll hook up with Matt sometimes if he's got a gig going on and he needs me, or vice-versa, if I need to get in touch with Duff for something, or Izzy for that matter. We just hook up and play because we dig doing it.


But late in 1999, Slash would indicate that there were no interest from anyone to reform in a new band:

No one of the members include Izzy and Steven are not thinking of reforming so far. But this doesn't mean the end. This doesn't mean we won't do anything from now on. I don't know what I'm going to do if one of the members wants to do something together. But no one is planning the day of reforming, even Axl. Because he has his own band GN'R.
BURRN! Magazine, 1999; translated from Japanese


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:32 am; edited 6 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:45 pm

1998-1999
PLANNING A LIVE ALBUM

RECORDING LIVE SHOWS

The band had been recording many of their live shows throughout its history:

Yeah, we’ll doubtless record and video shows on the next tour. In fact, we’ve already done some dates in Japan that way.


All shows from the Use Your Illusion Tour were recorded with the plan being a live album [RAW, June 23, 1993].

We recorded every single show we did and there is a… You know, we've talked for a long time about compiling something out of that. I have no idea… I mean, then again, it could sound like crap. [laughs] We don't know.

Basically we're just waiting to find somebody who has the patience to sit trough it. [laughs].



1998-1999: RELEASING A LIVE RECORD

By late 1998, the band was discussing a live release:



Studio Engineer Dave Dominguez would work on this project with Del James and Mike Clink sometime between January and August 1998:

Live Era. Like I got to work with Del on that. And they gave me a "thank you" on that. So that was amazing to me, even though I was like, Axl walked up and said, "Oh, thanks for all the help, Dave," and gave me a couple of CDs. And I opened it like, "Oh man, they gave me a..." That to me, like, if I were to go back when I was 13 or 14 going, "Guns N' Roses is gonna thank you on a record," I would have like, "You're out of your mind." And that to me is one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me. Like I've met some really cool people, I've had some pretty decent success in platinum records, but that to me will always be the coolest thing is like when the guy that you look at, "Oh my God, that's Axl Rose," and he hands you CD and says, "Thanks for your help." Like, "Oh, I'm done." I could quit now and be like, "I did okay."


Being asked if Live Era was an easy and quick project:

Yeah, I walked in. We just got a bunch of live tapes. Del James went through a bunch, we went through a bunch of live tapes, and he picked out songs. I was the engineer, I kind of got tones up, cuz you could hear Axl yelling on the mic to the band. So, "What's he saying there?" I like, "Great." He just kind of picked out songs. I think it was like three or four days at that. I think it was three days. He picked out songs and they sent it off to mix.


And as for whether Axl re-recorded any of the vocals:

Not with me, no. Not with me. Yeah, no. I've worked with a big band that put out a live record and I recorded the vocals. So yeah, but not with me. It might've done with Clink, cause this should record like what? The Live Era is like '87 to... [...] '93, yes. They might've done it with Clink at that point, but yeah, not with me.


Around the time, Bryn Bridenthal, director of publicity at Geffen Records and still connected to the ongoing version of Guns N' Roses, would refer to a live album as a "fantasy concept" [Rolling Stone, November 14, 1998]:

Axl can only do one thing at a time. When he focuses, he really focuses well, but he sometimes can't see outside the periphery of his laser.


In December it would be speculated that Geffen would try to force a live record if Axl and Guns N' Roses wasn't ready to release a new album [MTV News, December 2, 1998].

In July 1999, Slash would shed some light on this project, informing that mixer Andy Wallace had been selected and would work on mixing tracks for the live album from July 12 to July 29 [MTV News, July 9, 1999]. According to the same report, Axl would be working with another producer for the tracks that involve vocals [MTV News, July 9, 1999]. A spokesperson for Slash would stress that this initial work was only "exploratory" and that a live album was not a done deal yet [MTV News, July 9, 1999].

Later, an anonymous source would say that Slash and Duff, and Axl has worked on shift so to not meet each other during the work:

It was all very odd. Slash and Duff would get together and work on it, and Axl would be sent CDs. He never came to the studio when they were there. It was done in shifts.

Even though I wasn’t in the band anymore, I was there for the mixing, just to make sure it was as honest a representation of GNR live as I thought it should be.


In August it would be rumored that the re-recorded version of Sweet Child O' Mine that was featured on the 'Bid Daddy' soundtrack [see other chapter], would also be included on the new live album [Metal Hammer, August 13, 1999]. This turned out to not be true.

It would also be rumored that it might be a double album [Rolling Stone, September 2, 1999].

Andy Wallace, the album's producer, would comment on the material:

It definitely has a live feel, but it's well-recorded and well-played. They were great live and had a lot of concerts to work from.


The tracks would be taken from concerts in Tokyo, Las Vegas and Mexico City [Rolling Stone, September 2, 1999].

In September, it would be reported that Geffen intended to have the live album out by Christmas [Metal Hammer, September 1999].

Then, in November 1999, Axl would talk about the live album and agree that it was a "farewell to [an] era":

It is exactly that. It's a farewell to that.... It was something we wanted to give to the public in a way of saying farewell. It was a very difficult thing to do, as listening to it and the people involved... [it] wasn't the most emotionally pleasant thing to do. […] For me, when I hear certain things on the "Use Your Illusion" tour, I... on that record, it's... since I'm in it, I can hear a band dying. I can hear when Izzy was unconsciously over it. I can hear where the band was leaning away from what Guns N' Roses [had] originally been about.

People may have their favorite songs, and it may be on "Use Your Illusion," but most people do tend to lean towards "Appetite" as being the defining Guns N' Roses record, and I can hear how, in the sound, it was moving away from that there. There's just so much I was able to do in keeping that aspect together.


Del James had been in charge with collecting live tapes to sift through to find quality versions of songs to be included on the album:

Del James worked for a couple of years off and on going though every single show we did on DAT tape from the "Use Your Illusion" tour and then every available tape, and finding tapes, and finding people that have recorded things, so he could have in his mind what was recorded best from the entire time Guns N' Roses was together. There were a lot of difficulties where things weren't... when they were recorded, when they were fully recorded to 24, 48 tracks, it wasn't recorded that well at times, and so it took a long time to find what tracks were available to use, because we had never officially recorded a show to make a live album.


Discussing the live version of It's Alright that is included as an intro to November Rain on the album:

Oh, that's on the live [album]. I just like the piano song ["It's Alright"] and the words, and when you play it for people, they had no idea it was a Black Sabbath song. So it was just kind of fun, and then it worked out as a intro to "November Rain" live, and it just so happened that [it] came out well on tape, so we were able to use it.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Wed Apr 10, 2024 7:16 am; edited 44 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:46 pm

JANUARY 1999
RUMOURS ABOUT GUNS HEADLINING SUMMER FESTIVALS OF 1999

In early 1999 it would be claimed Guns N' Roses were considering headlining Lollapalooza '99 after having received an offer from organizers at the William Morris Agency [Rolling Stone, January 17, 1999]. But in the end of January, Ted Gardner, co-director of Lollapalooza, would state that no offers had been sent out to bands yet [Los Angeles Times, January 31, 1999].

The band had allegedly also received an offer from the annual OzzFest tour [Rolling Stone, January 17, 1999].

A source close to the band would say, "we wouldn't be discussing it if we didn't think they could [get an album out in time for the tour to start] [Rolling Stone, January 17, 1999].

In April it would be rumoured that Guns N' Roses were close to signing on as one of the headliners for Woodstock '99 [Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1999]. Then, a few days later, it was reported that Guns N' Roses would not headline Woodstock, because they simply wouldn't be ready with their album in time [Rolling Stone, April 4, 1999]. Then a few days later, Michael Lang, one of the co-producers of the event would claim it was 50/50 whether Guns N' Roses would be there, and:

It would depend on how well they are coming along with the recordings and whether they're ready to do it. They very much want to.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Sun May 05, 2024 8:13 am; edited 4 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:46 pm

JANUARY-AUGUST 1999
WORKING ON NEW MUSIC

In early 1999 the band was said to be back in the studio after a Christmas break [MTV News, January 8, 1999]. Insiders said to expect a "strong album with a big sound" [MTV News, January 8, 1999].

In mid-1999 there would be rumours that Axl was presenting unfinished tracks to the label [Spin, July 1999].

There would also be rumours there was tension between Paul and Tommy, because, as a source would have it, Paul "has the whole Guns attitude but he's never toured" [Spin, July 1999].

Youth, who had been involved as a possible producer for the band in the first half of 1988, would mention that Axl had been working on a song called 'Prostitute' but that he was struggling in the studio:

They sold millions of records in a few years. He had a big crew of people in the studio ... and I think that kind of pressure chokes creativity.


Later, when asked if Prostitute was one of the stronger songs on the album, Brain would reply:



Around the same time, Chris Vrenna would speculate on how the record would sound:

I have a feeling it's gonna be more like Appetite than people are expecting.


In February, Tommy would say he wasn't allowed to talk about the work they were doing, but still say that:

This is the hardest I’ve worked on a record.


In April, sources would claim the band was almost finished [E! News Online, April 2, 1999].

In early June, The New York Daily News would claim that the record was getting closer and might be out by November, in the words of a "source close to" Axl:

November is looking possible. ... Axl [Rose] swears he’s going to deliver a record by late fall. The head guys at Interscope have heard what he’s doing, and everybody’s pretty excited - and they haven’t even heard the vocals. The tracks have been recorded for a long time, but Axl’s just starting to lay down the vocals.


Around the same time, Moby would offer some advice to the band:

My advice to them would be to stop worrying about it and just make a record. Go into the studio for a month and at the end of the month, your record has to be finished. Go in and play and have fun and sing songs and don't worry about selling billions of records, just have fun and make a nice record. At this point, they've spent so many years on it, and they don't seem to be any closer to actually having a finished record.
MTV News, June 8, 1999[/url]


In August Kerrang! would present possible song titles: 'Prostitute', 'Cock-a-roach Soup', 'This I Love', 'Suckerpunched', 'No Love Remains', 'Friend Or Foe', 'Zip It', 'Something Always', 'Hearts Get Killed' and 'Closing In On You' [Kerrang! August 21, 1999]. The magazine would also list possible titles for the album: 'Cockroach Soup' or '2000 Intentions' [Kerrang! August 21, 1999]. These titles were all taken from an unknow earlier source.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Sun May 05, 2024 8:13 am; edited 4 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:47 pm

MAY 1999
GUNS N' ROSES ON THE 'HEAVY METAL F.A.K.K. 2' SOUNDTRACK?

In May 1999, it was reported that Bruce Berman, music supervisor for the soundtrack to the movie "HEAVY METAL F.A.K.K. 2", was in discussion with Axl to include a new Guns N' Roses song in the movie [MTV News, May 24, 1999]. The movie would never be released.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Sun May 05, 2024 8:14 am; edited 5 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:47 pm

JUNE 25, 1999
A NEW VERSION OF 'SWEET CHILD' IS FEATURED IN THE 'BIG DADDY' MOVIE

As discussed previously [see earlier chapter], when Youth came in as a producer one of the first things he said he had done was dissuade the band from re-recording Appetite for Destruction. Despite this, in June 1999, 'Big Daddy', the new Adam Sandler movie, would feature a new version of Sweet Child O' Mine [MTV News, July 9, 1999]. During the closing credits of the movie, a hybrid version of the song would be played, starting with the original version and morphing into a new version [MTV News, July 9, 1999]. In addition, at the start of the song, Axl is heard repeating the word "Figaro", which was a last-minute addition "for fun," according to Lori Lahman, a musical supervisor for the movie [MTV News, July 9, 1999].



Big Daddy
June 25, 1999



Later it would be claimed that Axl had wanted to include a new version of the song on the soundtrack, but Slash and Duff had refused to allow this and hence instead a hybrid song would end up playing during the end credits and not be included on the soundtrack [CDNow/Allstar, January 8, 2002].


Last edited by Soulmonster on Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:56 am; edited 9 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:48 pm

AUGUST 1999
ROBIN LEAVES THE BAND

I was done absolutely with tracks and songs I was writing and recording with Axl - tenfold. My work was really completed there.

_______________________________________

In August 1999, it would be reported that Robin had left Guns N' Roses [MTV News, August 4, 1999; Kerrang! August 21, 1999]. Allegedly, he had been hired on a two year contract and it had expired on August 1, 1999 [Allstarmag, August 4, 1999; Kerrang! August 21, 1999]. With no tour or new album in sight, sources said Robin returned to Nine Inch Nail who was planning to embark on a tour [MTV News, August 4, 1999].

Robin would comment on his decision to rejoin Nine Inch Nails:

I'd made the decision to come back before I'd heard the record, which is something I did intentionally. I'd been in contact loosely with mostly Danny [Lohner] through the past couple of years, so I knew what stage they were at and that they'd never replaced me - they'd never needed to for a live situation.

It was a difficult decision to make because I was so wrapped up in what I was doing at the time and I was proud of the work I'd done. But when it came down to it, I couldn't imagine NIN going out without me or with somebody else. I'm in a good place right now.

We wrote and rehearsed and argued and laboriously recorded several records worth of musical material, which to the best of my knowledge Axl is still finishing. But my work was through. We had dozens of finished songs, as far as I was concerned, and we were waiting for Axl to complete the songs.  So the timing was perfect. Nails were about to go on the road again, and I wanted to go out on the road with them.

I was with [Cirque de Soleil] for about a year and a half. I got a call from Axl. We’ve been working on the record but I will doubt that will come out any time soon. The drummer in A Perfect Circle (Josh Freese ) was also working with us. That’s basically what I was doing while Trent was doing the Fragile. I had kept in touch with with Danny, Trent and Charlie and my work was through with Axl. My time with Axl was up. I was excited to come back to NIN. It was right for me. It was right for Trent. The timing was uncanny.


Doug Goldstein would indicate Robin might return:

Robin [Finck] is doing his Nine Inch Nails thing and we have no idea how long that's gonna last.


Despite this Robin's contract being up, Axl would express surprise with Robin's departure:

Robin's departure was abrupt, sudden, you know, not expected but at the same time, it's turned out to be a good thing. We've been able to push some of the guitar parts a step farther, that had he been here, it's not something that would have been considered, and I wouldn't have been rude enough to attempt to do that. Robin did a great job, but we've been able to up the ante a little bit.


A spokesperson for the label would say:

Robin finished recording several albums worth of material with Guns N' Roses. Axl is now working on the vocals for the album.


Robin was excited about the work he had done while in Guns N' Roses:

I was with Axl for a little over two years, and we recorded dozens of songs together. I’m really proud of what we did as a band. I’m anxious to see how it’s completed.. [Will it be?]  Oh, yes [grinning]. You may depend on it.

I'd helped write and arrange and recorded enough songs for several records. Honestly, we recorded so many different song ideas and completed so many different types of songs — from quiet, very simple traditional piano songs to 16 stereo tracks of keyboard blur and everything in between.


In 2000 Robin would say he wasn't involved anymore and didn't know anything about release dates:

Each month that flips past is a month that I don’t really keep in touch with them. I don’t really know what is going to happen.


He would also indicate that he one of the reasons he had left because of the slow process, and especially the lack of lyrics:

It was great for a while, but then it became terribly frustrating not seeing anything completed because no lyrics were finished. It's one of the reasons I'm not there anymore. No one song was ever completed — and I was there for two and a half years. […] When he finishes the lyrics, I assume [the songs] are going to be released. I hope they turn out great. There's a lot of potential there.

My work with Axl was completed from my perspective. I’d been with him for 2 1/2 years and the band sounded great. I was writing and recording all these songs and we had several albums worth of material. It was really exciting for a while, but until I’d left, nothing was completed lyrically. So I was done. I was no longer inspired to spend 14 hours on track number 41 when track 40 wasn’t even finished.


Last edited by Soulmonster on Sun May 05, 2024 8:14 am; edited 4 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:49 pm

REPLACING ROBIN:
DAVE NAVARRO, STEVIE SALAS, ZIM ZUM, NICK NOLAN? NO

Axl did not appear stressed by Robin's departure:

[…] we will be continuing to look for and or decide who the official new guitar player will be, but it's not that important to the band at this time, as that person's not really needed. There's not a whole lot for them to do at this time in regards to recording, as we've recorded [a] majority of material.


Yet Doug Goldstein would state that they were looking for replacements, and that Dave Navarro was still very much in the picture [Rolling Stone, November 9, 1999].

At some point in 1999, guitarist Stevie Salas would audition for the job:

Stevie jammed with the new Guns N' Roses line-up at a recording studio in Los Angeles. They played such classic songs as "Welcome To the Jungle," "Its So Easy, "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Paradise City" and "You Could Be Mine." The jam session went on for about 5 hours and reportedly they really rocked!
www.steviesalas.com, December 6, 1999

I spent an evening jammin with a band that was called Guns N' Roses, five hours at 300db. It was loud!!! But it wasn't the real Guns. There can't be a Guns without Slash! Keith and Mick (Rolling Stones) Steven and Joe (Aerosmith), Axl and Slash... That's the way it is! But Axl's new music was taking chances and I have to respect that.

As for GnR, jamming was mad fun. I must say I have played many stadiums and arenas in my life but i have never played as loud as i did with those guys that night but as I told people before it was a bit like a guns cover band playing the songs. I thought Bucket would not like it knowing him and I think the cd they were making then and the cd that will come out will be quite different. I think Axl was searching to be cutting edge but if you ask me Appetite is still as cutting edge as rock will ever hope to be.
Sp1at, February 21, 2005


When asked if he still kept in contact with Axl:

No Axl and I are not in touch, we are not friends at all, but i did email him recently so you never know!
Sp1at, February 21, 2005


And apparently, Marilyn Manson's guitarist, Zim Zum, was also offered the job:

At the end of Zim Zum's tour of duty as guitarist in Marilyn Manson he entered into self-imposed exile for a year in his Chicago home. He turned down offers to join a band which he describes as having "an appetite for destruction," along with record label offers before he even recorded a note.
Chart Attack, November 2000


Another guitarist who allegedly auditioned, and likely in 1999, was Nick Nolan:

Nolan said about five years ago he auditioned for Guns N' Roses, but singer Axl Rose's psychic, after pondering a photograph of Nolan, told Rose she didn't think he was right for the band.
The Times Herald, December 7, 2004


Last edited by Soulmonster on Sun May 05, 2024 8:14 am; edited 7 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Thu Aug 27, 2020 12:44 pm

AUGUST-OCTOBER 1999
WORKING ON NEW MUSIC

After leaving Robin would describe what they had written and recorded by the time he left:

We wrote and rehearsed and argued about, and laboriously recorded, dozens of songs in L.A. for several years. Of those songs, two fistfuls are musically finished.

We experimented with all kinds of methods of writing and recording songs, from traditional piano to traditional rock songs to too many tracks of way-too-stereo keyboard blurbs and everything in between.

Many lines have been crossed, way too many Fridays going, ‘Hmm?’

What actually makes it to the record, I don’t really know.

We recorded a lot of cool songs and potential tracks.


And:

[M]ost of the stronger songs that ended up on A-lists when I was there were huge rock songs, built for the masses, really guitar-driven.


This is in-line with Axl's comments that the first record would be more guitar-focused than the second [see other chapter].

Josh would also describe the state of the music when he left:

And what I was more excited about is that I had written three or four songs, I co-wrote three or four songs. When I left there was two lists. There's the master list, like, "Here's the 20 songs we're concentrating on." And there was a B list, "And here's the other 20 songs that if we get to him one day or finish him one day, we'll see what happens." For the 20 songs, I had three or four songs, or for the 16, I had three or four songs that were in the running. And so, like, that's pretty cool [...]


So there were 16 songs on the A-list and about 20 songs on the B-list.

Kerrang! would also speculate that Axl had recorded the album three times and that the production costs now exceeded $ 1,000,000 [Kerrang! August 21, 1999].

Josh was a busy session drummer while also working on the new Guns N' Roses record. Amongst other, he also worked with Chris Cornell at the time, who would talk about Josh and the new GN'R record:

Yeah, [Josh is] a busy guy. He was showing up playing from like noon to four, then he’d go off from like nine till four in the morning playing with Axl, and then he’d show up the next day when we needed him. He’s got lot of energy though, so he was OK. […] He’s also very, uh, word careful. We asked him certain questions [about the Guns record], but he knew what he should and shouldn’t talk about. I just wanted to know what it felt like for him to be playing ‘Sweet Child 0’ Mine’ with a band made out of all these punk rock guys and Axl, cos I think that’s really fucking weird, but it must be kind of cool. […] I think they actually have a lot of creative freedom with what they’re doing with Axl, they’re getting to write parts and stuff - and when he’d come to work with me it’s almost the opposite of what you would think. I would tell him exactly what to play when the song was finished.
Metal Hammer, October 1999


Later, Josh would say that they had worked more consistently on the record in 1998 and that the work was "looser" in 1999 with less work to do:

The second year I was down there, '99, it was way looser. [...] It's not that the second year wasn't good, it's just the second year we're kind of running out of things to do. You know what I mean? The record wasn't done-


In September and October, Sonic Net would be doing surveys to gauge what the interest was from the public on Guns N' Roses. On the question, "Can Axl Rose successfully revive Guns n' Roses?", 70 % answered 'no' and only 30 % 'yes' [Sonic Net, September 9, 1999]. And on the question, "Can Guns N' Roses conquer the airwaves again?", 61 % answered 'no' and only 39 % answered 'yes' [Sonic Net, October 12, 1999].


Last edited by Soulmonster on Sun May 05, 2024 8:14 am; edited 20 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Soulmonster Sun Aug 30, 2020 8:41 am

NOVEMBER 2, 1999
'END OF DAYS' SOUNDTRACK WITH 'OH MY GOD'

In August 1999, it would be rumoured that Guns N' Roses might contribute a song to the soundtrack to the movie 'End of Days' [MTV News, August 8, 1999], and in September the rumours were confirmed [MTV News, September 8, 1999].

So on November 2, 1999, the world would finally hear new music from Guns N' Roses, just over 5 years since the band released 'Sympathy for the Devil.' Again, the music would be a one-off song intended for a movie soundtrack, this time for the movie 'End of Days'. The Guns N' Roses song was 'Oh My God' [MTV, November 8, 1999].

The song was initially claimed to have been written specifically by Axl after seeing an advance screening of the movie [MTV News, September 8, 1999].

G. Marc Roswell, the film's music supervisor, would state:

It’s absolutely classic Axl, but it has a lot of new elements. It fits the movie really well.




End of Days soundtrack
June 25, 1999



Last edited by Soulmonster on Sat May 20, 2023 12:07 pm; edited 11 times in total
Soulmonster
Soulmonster
Band Lawyer

Admin & Founder
Posts : 16018
Plectra : 77623
Reputation : 830
Join date : 2010-07-06

Back to top Go down

21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED Empty Re: 21. SEPTEMBER 1997-NOVEMBER 1999: JOSH AND TOMMY JOINS, ROBIN LEAVES, LIVE ERA IS RELEASED

Post by Sponsored content


Sponsored content


Back to top Go down

Page 1 of 2 1, 2  Next

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum